PRINCIPLES
The provision of primary, secondary and LSEN (Learners with special needs) education in South Africa is a function of provincial governments. The Western Cape Education Department is responsible for the provision and operation of schools in the iSLP. The construction of school buildings in the Western Cape is managed by the Department of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Tourism (Chief Directorate : Works).
The need for schools in the iSLP has arisen from two sources: the creation of new residential areas; and the burgeoning population in existing townships, housed in informal settlements and backyard shacks - which has shown no sign of diminishing. It has therefore been necessary to extend existing school buildings and create new schools in new residential areas.
Schools are an essential component of an integrated human settlement, and it is essential that they be built so that they are available as soon as the new residents take occupation of their homes.
Investment in schooling in new townships is based on the provision of 1 primary school per 1000 serviced residential sites, and 1 secondary school per 2000 serviced residential sites. Primary schools typically occupy 2 hectares and comprise 26 classrooms, an administration block, ablution facilities and a forum (inside assembly area). Secondary schools typically occupy 3 hectares and comprise 36 classrooms, an administration block, ablution facilities and a forum. Sports fields are not provided, but once the schools have been established they are encouraged to establish
sports fields on the area levelled for that purpose as a school/community initiative.
IMPLEMENTATION
Appropriate and imaginative approaches to school design are employed wherever possible. For example more space is provided in the foundation phase classrooms when compared to the space provided for intermediate learners. The needs for outcomes-based education are also taken into consideration by trying to place the IT room (computer), resources room (library) and the forum (in which large groups may be taught by the master teacher) in close proximity to one another.
The construction of schools is put out to public tender, the terms of which include requirements for the employment of labour from the local community. Preference is also given to the engagement of emerging contractors, either in their own right, in joint ventures with established contractors or as sub-contractors.
As at 30 April 2002
seventeen new schools had been constructed in the iSLP, of which 4 had already been extended; and
16 existing schools had been upgraded. These were financed almost exclusively out of iSLP RDP funds. All future schools in the iSLP will have to be financed exclusively out of the provincial education department's funds. Budgets for the construction of new schools fall way short of what is required and consequently a large classroom backlog has developed in the province.
OPERATION
It is immoral to build schools unless the availability of the resources required to operate them are assured. Every decision to build a school in the iSLP has been predicated upon a commitment by the Education Department to effectively equip and operate the school, with the support of a community-based governing body. The Education Department has followed its building programme with programmes designed to equip the governing body members for the tasks they are required to perform.
A significant constraint to the optimisation of schooling in the iSLP is the steadily increasing population density, which takes the learner/teacher ratio above the provincial norm i.e. 1:39 in primary schools and 1:33 in secondary schools. Because this takes place in low-income communities, which are suffering from increasing levels of unemployment, the fees received by the school, per child, are negligible. The economies of the schools and the increasing demands made upon teachers are therefore further causes of concern.
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