Gauteng Education MEC Maile Closes 32 Illegal Schools, Allocates R1.13bn in Subsidies

• Gauteng MEC Lebogang Maile announced a crackdown on unregistered schools, with 32 institutions served official closure letters in 2026
• Two school directors were arrested as part of the department's enforcement drive against illegally operating schools in the province
• The department confirmed a R1.13 billion subsidy allocation for the 2026/27 financial year covering 279 qualifying independent schools

GAUTENG — Gauteng Education MEC Lebogang Maile has announced sweeping enforcement action against unregistered independent schools in the province, while simultaneously confirming a R1.13 billion subsidy package for qualifying institutions in the 2026/27 financial year.

The department investigated 61 suspected illegal schools during 2026, issuing closure letters to 32 of them. Following those interventions, seven schools shut down, four submitted formal registration applications, and two school directors faced arrest. The scale of the crackdown marks an escalation from 2025, when officials inspected 57 unregistered schools and issued 31 letters of demand.

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Maile's department stressed that the closures would not leave students stranded. District officials are actively assisting affected families to place learners in registered, accredited institutions, ensuring continuity of education is maintained throughout the process.

Gauteng currently has 1,083 registered operational independent schools, a figure that has grown from 961 in 2021. The department urged parents to verify a school's registration status before paying fees or enrolling children.

R1.13 billion distributed across 279 schools

On the funding side, the subsidy allocation for 2026/27 is split between R621 million directed at primary phase institutions and R508 million for secondary phase schools, covering 279 qualifying subsidised schools in total. Over the four financial years between 2022 and 2026, the Gauteng Department of Education transferred approximately R4.3 billion to independent schools.

Schools that receive public funding remain privately owned and managed. However, lower-fee institutions qualify for higher levels of state support, and all subsidised schools are subject to financial audits, payroll checks, and asset monitoring by the department. The oversight conditions are designed to ensure accountability in the use of public resources by privately run institutions.

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Source: Briefly News