The South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) claims there are people who misuse education funds at the expense of teachers.

Speaking at the second Education Indaba in Pretoria on Tuesday, Sadtu general secretary Mugwena Maluleke said there are edupreneurs who want to derive profits from lack of training and resourcing. “These edupreneurs are working together with politicians who see teachers as tools to be overloaded," said Maluleke.

"In South Africa everyone blames the teachers for the poor performance of learners; the World Economic Forum blames basic education for the high rate of unemployment and the International Monetary Fund blames the teachers for the poor performance in mathematics and literature. When the world has become so brutal, how do we expect the teaching profession to create people with good heads and hearts, because the combination of the two is always formidable.”

The indaba brings together education stakeholders to discuss issues affecting the sector particularly those related to post-provisioning norms and early childhood development. Basic education director-general Mathanzima Mweli said South Africa's school system is becoming unequal.

“Poorer schools are experiencing the worst learner performance as a result of shrinkage in education’s share. There is a very slow growth in provincial budgets and, as a result, the number of school management teams has been reduced because the economy has not been doing well,” said Mweli, adding that the education sector is experiencing low teacher salaries.

He said said educators only received a 5% increase from the National Treasury instead of the 7%. “Budget cuts happen every year and, as a result, there is a decline in the purchasing power."