The Democratic Alliance has slammed the department of education for blowing its budget for the 2015 National Teacher Awards (NTA) dinner, which cost a staggering R22 million to host.<\/p>\n
According to the party, this final amount was R6.5 million over the initial budget, described as “an unacceptably extravagant waste of state resources”.<\/p>\n
The over-expenditure could have bought approximately 23,600 maths textbooks, 43,000 school chairs or 11,200 school desks, the DA said.<\/p>\n
According to a Parliamentary reply on the matter, the money was spent on \u201cbuild-up process\u201d costs, including transportation, accommodation, adjudication training and provincial ceremonies.<\/p>\n
Further costs included transportation, accommodation, catering and prizes for the event itself as well as corporate gifts and television production.<\/p>\n
Also listed in the response were \u201cadvocacy\u201d fees for the national event and travel agency and professional conference organiser fees.<\/p>\n
“Teachers are the backbone of our education system and their efforts and successes must be celebrated. The NTAs are a good opportunity for this, but the cost must be brought down and realistic given the already constrained budget for education,” the DA said.<\/p>\n
Public works loses R35 billion in wasteful spending: report<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Eliminate wasteful spending and corruption: Gordhan<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n