Education was supported by 98% of companies and received 44% of average CSI expenditure in 2022. It has been the most supported sector since first measured in 1998. CSI spend is based on data from the 65 large companies that participated in Trialogue’s primary research survey in 2022, as well as data from the previous editions of the Handbook.
Percentage of company support for education
There has been a significant shift in corporate education funding. Most notably, more funding is now allocated to ECD than before, as ECD becomes integrated into the DBE and there is more shared knowledge on the need to invest earlier in a child’s development. Additionally, as companies become more strategic, they tend to fund teacher development and other systems levers, which is a trend that we anticipate will continue.
From a subject matter perspective, science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) still receives the most funding and this will likely continue, given the future skills required in the workplace. While there were some shifts towards greater online support for learners during the pandemic, these have not had a major impact on funding patterns in the sector.
Level of education
- Early childhood development education received 27% of education spend, significantly up from 13% in 2021. This was anticipated as the responsibility for the sector moves to the DBE and it becomes more formalised.
- Over one-third of the education spend (38%) was allocated to school-level education (general education plus further education and training), down from 52% in 2021. The drop in education spend for school-level education is due to increased expenditure on ECD.
- Tertiary education received 30% of education expenditure, in line with 2021 (29%).
Subject area
- In line with previous years, maths and science were the
most supported subjects, receiving an average of 30% of
CSI education spend. Another 29% of education spend is not subject specific. - Language and literacy received an average of 10% of CSI education spend – the same as in 2021.
- Vocational and technical education (3%) and financial literacy (2%) continue to receive the smallest share of average
CSI education spend.
Type of intervention
- As in previous years, the largest portion of CSI education spend was on bursaries, scholarships and university chairs (27%).
- Learner development continues to receive the second-largest allocation of CSI education spend (18%), though down from 22% in 2021.
- CSI education spend on teacher education increased to
14% in 2022 (from 11% in 2021). This trend is anticipated to continue as funders focus on systemic levers of change in the education system. - Average education spend on infrastructure, facilities and equipment increased from 10% in 2021 to 14% in 2022, the highest in the past four years.
- School governance, leadership and functionality;
ICT infrastructure; and special needs interventions continue to be less of a priority, with each receiving less than 5% of average CSI education spend.
Type of learner support interventions
- Companies funding learner development were asked which interventions they supported. The largest share of average CSI spend on learner development (49%) was allocated to programmes directly serving learners outside of school hours, followed by an allocation of one-third (34%) to programmes directly serving learners during school hours.
- Ed-tech serving learners remotely received the smallest amount of average education spend on learner development in
2022 (2%).
