​Thembisa Shologu
The Gauteng Provincial Government has set aside R420 million to invest in the education of young people who did exceptionally well in the 2021 matric year. 
The Gauteng City Region Academy (GCRA) bursary scheme established in 2009 is aimed at investing in the education of young people. 
Thus far, R2.2 billion has been allocated to this scheme and 27 000 young people funded have graduated.
Premier David Makhura said despite being one of the areas severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, education has continued to record some remarkable achievements in Gauteng.
Gauteng matric results have moved from 79% to 84% in terms of throughput rate largely because the focus was put on township schools to make learning conditions conducive. 
"In the 2021 matric results, Gauteng was the second-best performing province with an 82.8% pass rate, which was a slight drop of 1% from 2020," Makhura said on Monday speaking during the State of the Province Address (SOPA) at Brixton Multipurpose Centre in Johannesburg.
A total of 130 schools in the province achieved a 100% pass rate. Another 462 had a pass rate that was above 90% with four of the top 10 districts in the country being from Gauteng. 
Makhura said the Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) continues to invest in the modernisation and quality delivery of education to improve outcomes, especially in township schools. 
"This decision to invest in the modernisation of our education system has proven fruitful over the last eight years.
"This progress has been the result of incremental interventions, which included ICT, investment in infrastructure, inputs into teacher training and adequate provision of classroom resources," Said Makhura.
In the year ahead, the premier said government would continue to focus on Early Childhood Development (ECD), a critical stage for the cognitive development of a child.
"We are pleased to report that 2 467 ECD practitioners have achieved a qualification at NQF Level 6. 
"We were also able to increase the percentage of public schools offering grade R to 95,1% in 2021. This is an increase of 24 new Grade R sites, from the 1 386 sites that offered grade R in 2020," said Makhura.
The provincial government has dedicated funding for the introduction of Coding and Robotics to meet the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) in Primary Schools. 
"We have identified 33 primary schools Grades R to 3 and 90 Grade 7 schools to participate in the pilot Coding and Robotics Programme."
Furthermore, Makhura said GPG has expanded the post-matric bursary scheme, enhanced schools of specialisation and provided schools for children with special needs in townships.