I Cronje: Opening of the Infrastructure Conference

9 October 2006

Looking through the classroom window

As a teacher I was always fortunate to have my own classroom. Although I was
grateful for having a place of my own, where I could inspire children with
quotations and pictures on the wall and setting up the desks how I liked it, I
never guessed that I would reach a time when I would like to write an Ode to a
classroom. And I am talking Bricks and Mortar, not about the souls of my
students. My praise poem would start with something like; "My Classroom, my
sanity, my soul. What has brought me to this state of singing praises about the
virtues of four walls and a roof is my daily exposure to our infrastructure
needs since I took over as MEC for Education in 2004.

Every time when I face overcrowding, children and teachers without
classrooms, collapsing classrooms, unsafe toilets and the absence of essential
structures, such as laboratories, computer rooms, media centres, etc. I realise
the importance of having a proper classroom, not to mention a decent toilet. It
is no secret that education for black children had not been a priority for
centuries in South Africa even before apartheid. The first school for slaves in
1658 and schools throughout the colonial period were designed to fit black
South Africans into subordinate positions in a racially structured
self-perpetuating division of labour.

The situation worsened when the apartheid government implemented the Bantu
Education Act of 1953 that provided for separate and inferior educational
facilities for Black children. The per capita subsidies illustrate the wide
gaps. In 1986 per capita subsidies for "Whites" were R2 365 compared with R572
for Black children in the Department of Education and Training schools. It was
even lower in the homelands with KwaZulu-Natal the lowest at R262 per
child.

In addition the expenditure on infrastructure for black children, especially
in rural areas, was minimal and parents dug deep into their pockets to build
classrooms for their children, the result often being poorly constructed
structures with inferior building material. These are the classrooms that are
now collapsing. Adding to this situation created by political discrimination is
the legacy of poor planning, weak management and poor management systems.

In 2003 the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education reported that:

* 53% of its schools had no telephone connection
* 56% of all schools were accessible only by footpaths or poor gravel
roads
* 60% of schools had no power supply
* 34% of schools had no water on site
* 51% of schools used pit latrines and 333 schools had no toilets at all
* 77% of schools had no libraries
* 85% of schools had no laboratories
* 75% of schools were without computers
* 34% of schools had no principal offices
* the shortfall in classrooms were estimated at 14 667
* 32% of school buildings were in poor physical condition.

We have made good progress in the provision of classrooms and toilets
since
2004. The following statistics is a clear illustration:

* 1999/00: 147 classrooms; 254 toilets
* 2000/01: 172 classrooms; 318 toilets
* 2001/02: 170 classrooms; 780 toilets
* 2002/03: 168 classrooms; 1245 toilets
* 2003/04: +- 400 classrooms; 700 toilets
* 2004/05: 1 200 classrooms and 1 950 toilets
* 2005/06: Exceed target of promised 1 500 classrooms and 2 500 toilets by
building 1 571 classrooms and 3 001 toilets.

While great strides have been made since 2004, one must realise that
infrastructure delivery is an incomplete journey, given the historical
infrastructure backlogs and the size and rural nature of this province. The
levels of poverty present huge challenges for the delivery of quality,
equitable and relevant education.

As the biggest education department in the country the Department of
Education in KwaZulu-Natal has the largest infrastructure budget in the
country. We have a huge responsibility to spend this money wisely and promote
the underlying strategies and objectives of the Provincial Growth and
Development Strategy. To this end we have been strengthening our partnership
with the Department of Public Works, as the traditional deliverer of
infrastructure vigorously, while at the same time promoting the Expanded Public
Works programme through the involvement of other implementing agents, such as
Ithala, Independent Development Trust (IDT) Umgeni, Black Economic Empowerment
(BEE) and Small Medium and Micro Enterprise (SMME) companies. By promoting the
latter we aim specifically to address appropriate skills development and
poverty alleviation through job creation.

This conference therefore aims to interrogate issues pertaining to
infrastructure delivery, which will enhance the levels of delivery in
KwaZulu-Natal in the context of the department’s strategic plan and the overall
provincial growth and development strategy. Our vision of a literate and
skilled society capable of benefiting from participating in all democratic
processes and contributing to the development and growth of the people of
KwaZulu-Natal can only be achieved if we provide and utilise resources to
achieve redress and equity and eliminate conditions of physical degradation in
institutions.

The challenges this department is facing in providing access to quality
education lie in:

* the development of appropriate policies
* increasing capacity, both internal and external
* improving on service delivery, also both internal and external.

While we have had great success stories, we are not complacent. On the
contrary, the past two and a half years have only helped to highlight our
inadequacies and the need for the department to address the challenges
mentioned and to establish a cycle of efficient service delivery. To move
forward we have identified and started addressing the following needs:

1. Policy

In terms of policy we have identified the following needs:

* integration with other government initiatives
* municipal integrated development plans.

It is crucial to work closely with local municipalities to ensure that no
housing developments and other developments are planned without the input of
the department.

New schools

* Thorough research and analysis into the need for new schools
* The University of KwaZulu-Natal is conducting such research. Professor J
McCarthy will deal with it with in this conference.

Acquisition of land and land ownership:

To be able to build and/or undertake refurbishment, repairs and renovations
of schools the department requires security of tenure of the property on which
the school is built. This requires:

* identification and acquisition of sites for new schools
* concluding of agreements with owners of private properties on which schools
are located in terms of Section 14 of the South African Schools Act, Act No 84
of 1996.

Full service package

* Determining the infrastructure needs of a school based on learner
enrolment (actual and/or envisaged), grades and curriculum offerings.

* A new clause has been added to our schools admission policy, which compels
principals to inform the Department before August about the numbers of learners
that their schools can accommodate. This will curb over-subscription at certain
schools at the expense of under-utilised neighbouring schools.

* Providing basic furniture requirements for new facilities.
* Expand our Further Education and Training (FET) Colleges: more delivery
sites, especially in the rural areas where skills training are sorely
needed.

Standards

* Determining design criteria for different facilities, e.g. sizes,
materials, finishes safety, etc. We are exploring designs that are more
children friendly, some models will be exhibited at this conference.

Consolidation of rural and farm schools

* The South African Schools Act requires that “part of the physical planning
framework should include an analysis of the cost and educational need for
schools that are smaller than is normally desirable. If they are very close to
each other, and there are no economic or educational grounds for their separate
existence, the options of a merger or closure should be considered. In the
event of a merger or closure the provincial education department must ensure
that all affected learners have access, on a reasonable basis, to alternative
public school accommodation.

We have many schools in the deep rural areas and on farms where learner
numbers are dwindling. It is not financially viable to put more money into
these schools to ensure quality education. We are in the process of a pilot
study to consolidate all such schools, in particular the secondary schools,
into single well-resourced schools. This project goes hand in hand with a pilot
project to provide learner transport.

Infrastructure for learners experiencing barriers to their learning

* In keeping with Education White Paper 6 the development and provision of
facilities and resources for all levels of learners with barriers will be
informed by the department’s fiscal resources.

* In the short-term, provision must be made to:

- systematically extend, develop and sustain the special or support
facilities and resources needed in mainstream schools (ramps, toilets,
etc.)
- establish and develop additional full-service schools while maintaining those
already established
- establish and develop additional Special Schools while maintaining those
already existing
- establish any physical structures required to strengthen and diversify the
existing Special Schools capacity to provide for a wider range of education to
learners with barriers (viz provide ramps etc. in Special schools previously
inaccessible to learners in wheelchairs.

2. Service delivery

In terms of service delivery the following needs have been identified:

Collection of accurate school data and availability thereof

* Accurate information relating to the existing infrastructure at schools is
required to facilitate informed decision making and prioritisation of
projects.
* To this end the national Department of Education appointed consultants to
undertake an assessment of all schools with a view to developing a National
Education Infrastructure System (NEIMS). The project is now nearing completion
and the provinces are eagerly awaiting the results and information to enable
them to plan more accurately.

Social responsibility opportunities

* Job creation
* Skills training. It is no use throwing people in at the deep end and
expecting them to succeed without the skills to swim. Our Further Education and
Training Colleges have been most useful in the training of hard skills, as well
as financial and management skills.
* Health education – We provide HIV and Aids programmes for all workers on
construction sites.

Alignment of planning with budget cycles and programmes

* Identifying the different stages of planning and implementing them at the
appropriate time within the budget cycle.
* Similarly the number of projects identified for implementation must be in
relation to the budget allocations within the MTEF cycle.

Conventional vs. alternative delivery

* Use of fast track system to delivery – BEE, women and youth. By using
emerging contractors, as well as our former combatant programme we have created
thousands of jobs for people in KwaZulu-Natal. Of the 51 entrepreneurs, who are
mainly women and the youth, 38 have now obtained GB2 rating, which will qualify
them to tender for projects over R2 million. Local labour is used to ensure
that the money spent on these projects will be injected in the local
communities.
* The use of Implementing Agents i.e Ithala, Umgeni Water, IDT.
* Creating co-operatives for the supply of building materials.

Procurement

* Streamlining the procurement procedures to the extent that all projects
can be deemed to be "Fast track" within the Supply Chain Management
framework.

Reporting

Improving the reporting to:
* treasury
* district and local municipalities for their integrated development
plans
* education district offices
* schools
* all other stakeholders
* building industry constraints
* availability of material
* lack of skills
* financial standing of emerging contractors
* sector workload

3. Success stories

We have several success stories, such as the intervention of national and
provincial treasuries through the Infrastructure Delivery Improvement
programme, the Water and Sanitation programme and the Introduction of the
curriculum upgrade programme, (providing specialist classrooms, e.g. computer
laboratories at historically disadvantaged schools to enable them to offer new
subjects according to the new curriculum.

I would like to single out two of our success stories

* Fast-Track Classroom Construction programme

The Fast-Track Construction of Classrooms programme was introduced by the
KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education in response to the Presidential
Injunction of ensuring that there will be no children educated "under trees".
In response to this Presidential imperative, our department, together with the
provincial Treasury, initiated special measures to Fast Track the delivery of
652 classrooms. The delivery strategy was designed to allow the entry of
emerging contractors through out the province. When the MEC for Finance, Dr
Zweli Mkhize and I handed over the contracts, we stressed the importance of
providing a quality product. We clearly stated that the province would not
accept inferior workmanship or tolerate those who may have viewed this
opportunity as one to abuse for their personal benefit. We requested an
assessment of performing and non-performing contractors and the grading
criterion used was based on time (completion within the contract period),
quality (acceptable standard as per specification) and financial stability.

Out of this exercise only 32 of the 51 contractors employed by the
department achieved gradings of one star and two stars. These are the companies
with whom government can do business and trust to help our province deliver the
services that our people so desperately need. Of these 32 contractors, 14 are
companies managed by women and eight companies are managed by youth. These star
contractors, who will be awarded tonight at the Gala dinner, have now started
with phase three: providing 917 toilets, 130 storerooms, 40 laboratories, 51
media centres and 65 administration blocks to 130 schools – at the cost of R172
million.

Monuments of Peace Initiative

The Monuments of Peace initiative, a joint project by the Premier’s Office
and the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education, has created an opportunity for
former combatants to be re-trained and utilised in the infrastructure service
delivery programmes of our department. This initiative, which cuts across all
political divides, is intended to address a number of objectives: not only are
we identifying and retraining former combatants, but we are adding to the
province’s available pool of contractors that can be used in infrastructure
service delivery. Our department has put aside a total of R60 million for this
initiative over three-years, with the annual allocation being R20 million. The
total number of direct beneficiaries is 200 people.

This Monuments of Peace Initiative is implemented through our Department’s
existing Water and Sanitation in Schools programme. This programme is aimed at
providing adequate sanitation facilities to those schools in our province that
do not have any facilities at all. We have appointed a total of four
Implementing Agents to assist us in this regard and this has been a successful
programme thus far.

The Monuments of Peace Initiative will contribute towards the delivery of
toilets that our schools so desperately need. A total of 200 former combatants,
identified from across the province, have started their training at the
Umgungundlovu Further Education and Training College in basic construction
skills and, later, basic business management skills in order to adequately
equip and train them to become entrepreneurs in their own right. These people
come from across the province and will be deployed back to their homes to work
with our Implementing Agents to contribute towards service delivery. The first
20 trainees have already graduated from the Umgungundlovu FET College’s
training programme.

From here, they will be absorbed into the service delivery programmes of the
department and be provided with further mentorship and training on site to hone
their newly acquired skills. Once they have successfully completed their first
projects, they will return to our FET College to start the next chapter of
their adventure that is, learning how to start and manage a business that can
be competitive in the market place.

4. Conclusion

The future of our children is too precious to leave at the whims and fancies
of individuals. Jean Nidetsch says, "It’s choice – not chance – that determines
your destiny". Our choice is "Getting KwaZulu-Natal Learning". Let us all work
together to provide a better quality education for our children.

Issued by: Department of Education, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial
Government
9 October 2006
Source: KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government (http://www.kwazulunatal.gov.za)