Call for comment on School Infrastructure Policies
Posted by Ingrid Thomson | 24 Nov, 2008From BuaNews Online
The Department of Education has invited interested people and
organisations to comment on the National Policy for School
Infrastructure and National Minimum Norms and Standards for School
Infrastructure.
The policies gazetted by the department recently aim to regulate and formalise the provision of school infrastructure.
In September 2007, Cabinet recommended that the department explore
innovative ways of accelerating the provision of school infrastructure
and eradicate school infrastructure backlogs.
The National Policy for School Infrastructure is published in terms of
section 3(4) of the National Education Policy Act, 1996(Act No 27 of
1996).
The aim of the policy is to provide guidelines towards an equitable
provision of an enabling physical teaching and learning environment for
all learners in South Africa, indicate clear roles and responsibilities
and unify accountability in the provision of school infrastructure.
The Policy outlines the eight policy areas which are:
* nationally established norms and standards for an enabling teaching and learning environment;
* systematised establishment and prioritisation of infrastructure needs;
* planned development of an enabling environment;
* standardised architectural designs;
* management and maintenance of immovable assets;
* diversification of funding sources;
* demonstrated delivery capacity, and
* systematised procurement management and procedures for the sector.
The National Minimum Norms and Standards for School Infrastructure are
published in terms of section 5A of the South African School Act, 1996
(Act 84 of 1996).
The norms and standards provide a clear classification of schools and a
minimum and optimum package that constitutes a functional and an
effective school.
The proposed norms and standards cover the areas including
classification of school types, capacity of a school, space norm per
learner, classroom size, school site size and location, accommodation
spaces required by school type, norms and standards for sports
facilities as well as norms and standards for basic services.
On implementation, the department said the minimum norms and standards
for infrastructure will ensure equity in the provision of the physical
teaching and learning environment, facilitate quality of the teaching
and learning environment and the consequent impact on learning outcomes
and facilitate efficient use of resources.
Both documents are available from government printers as Gazette No 31616 and Department of Education web site www.education.gov.za from Monday.
It is also available via SABINET's South African Government Gazette and Archive (1994) on the UCT Libraries' electronic resources.