Page 4 - DOE Infrastructure Project List

Foreword by the Superintendent-General
Improving the standard of education is a signi cant priority for the South African government. The power of education transforms societies and the lives of individuals, helping them to become economically active so that they can both bene t and contribute to the economy, thereby escaping poverty and building our country.
Delivering quality education is dependent on the provision of adequate infrastructure and other resources. Our mandate is to provide learners with opportunities to become productive and responsible citizens through providing quality basic education. The availability of quality infrastructure which is conducive to an environment in which teaching and learning can take place is a critical success factor in delivering on our mandate. The schools’ infrastructure programme in the Eastern Cape is one of the key initiatives managed by the Department of Education (DoE) to provide and maintain adequate infrastructure facilities based on a data-driven infrastructure plan for schools and non-schools, as required by law.
It is important to remember that historically, the Eastern Cape has struggled with an under-resourced, inadequate, and dilapidated education infrastructure that has made it dif cult to provide the required standard of education to all learners in the province.
The Department’s xed assets include approximately 5 500 operational schools, serving close to 1,8 million learners - 49% of our assets are in an excellent/fair condition, with the remaining 51% ranging from fair (42%) to very poor. Although the state of our infrastructure is not what we hoped for 24 years into our democracy, we are making steady progress in an ongoing effort to raise the standard of schools within the province.
The process of infrastructure programme management is a complex and lengthy one which is guided by legislation, processes, and systems. The planning process involves communication with inter-governmental stakeholders, communities, and subject matter experts in the built and education environment, amongst others. There are several issues to be considered in this process, such as assessing the needs of the districts, land acquisitions, and identi cation and prioritisation of projects and consequently it can take years before we even get to laying the foundation for a new building, for example.
1 | Infrastructure Project List 2018/19