The Democratic Alliance (DA) is concerned that continued budget cuts for the Second Chance Matric Programme will inhibit efforts to support to more students who would like to obtain their National Senior Certificate (NSC) and would lead to those students remaining behind in life.
The Second Chance Matric Programme was started to offer those learners, who failed their NSC exams, a second chance to obtain their matric certificate.
This programme plays an essential role in helping students complete their Matric, however if budget cuts continue the programme could become useless.
Fewer funds have been allocated to this programme, since it was launched in 2016. The budget for the programme went from R60 million to R42 million.
If the Department of Basic Education continues to give less and less to this programme, it will result in many students entering the job market without a Matric qualification. Which means that they will be entering into low paying jobs.
The DA believes that education should be the area which is given additional funding instead of receiving budget cuts.
“Quality education will never be possible to achieve when the funding keeps getting cut. Recedevernment cannot continue to prioritize vanity projects such as the bankrupt SAA at the expense of funding crucial education programmes,” says the DA.
The more you understand yourself, the more silence there is, the healthier you are. —Maxime Lagacé
