South Africa: Equal Education

EE’s report highlights the shortcomings in the Department’s performance.

EE’s report highlights the shortcomings in the Department’s performance.

EE submits report on Department of Basic Education’s annual performance

Equal Education (EE) has sent a briefing note to the South African Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Basic Education. This coincides with the Committee’s review of the Department of Basic Education’s (DBE) annual performance. EE’s report highlights the shortcomings in the Department’s performance. EE’s Briefing Note can be accessed here:  http://www.equaleducation.org.za/sites/default/files/Briefing_Note.pdf

While there have been some positive developments in education during the 2010/2011 financial year, such as the expansion of the School Nutrition Programme (which is feeding close to 10 million learners), EE has submitted recommendations on the following areas:

  • The provision of workbooks and textbooks;
  • The provision of school libraries;
  • The Annual National Assessments (ANA) of literacy and numeracy; and
  • School Infrastructure

There are still thousands of schools in South Africa which lack basic resources, including water (over 2400 schools), electricity (over 3500 schools), sanitation, fencing, classrooms, laboratories, libraries and computer centers. While the DBE has allocated R8.2 billion towards addressing the school infrastructure backlog, this achievement is overshadowed by the fact that the Department has also failed to adopt regulations providing for National Minimum Norms and Standards for School Infrastructure, despite having acknowledged that these are critical. Without norms and standards, the public, schools, teachers, learners and parents do not have a legally set standard against which to measure their school infrastructure against. Policies setting out vague or general standards are more easily flouted than if these standards were set in law.

EE has been campaigning for the adoption of Minimum Norms and Standards for School Infrastructure for more than 18 months, and is currently preparing to initiate legal action against the Minister of Basic Education, Minister of Finance and the country’s nine provincial MECs on the issue of Minimum Norms and Standards.

For more on EE’s work and Campaign for Minimum Norms and Standards for School Infrastructure, visit www.equaleducation.org.za

 

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