Gauteng sets ambitious schools infrastructure targets

The Gauteng provincial government has set out to build not less than a hundred schools during the five year term of the seventh administration which started last week. Education MEC Matome Chiloane announced the plan during the launch of the province’s online application system for grades 1 and 8 at Noordwik Secondary School in Midrand. Accordingly the target equates to at least 20 schools a month and Chiloane said the province used to build as much but regressed over the years until it reached single digit number of schools in a financial year.

Chiloane also attributed the inadequacy of schools infrastructure to massive migration to Gauteng by people from other provinces and neighbouring countries in search of a better life.

“As the number of schools we were building each year went down the population grew and grew grew resulting in the current infrastructure not being able to accommodate that number but we are now addressing that, said Chiloane. The construction of schools to be done through a host of implementing agents, is part of a response plan that includes the rollout of mobile classrooms.

“So we have put in place all those interventions and mobile classrooms will continue to be rolled as a temporary measure,” said the MEC also indicating that while the containers were less desirable, they are necessary in the immediate.

It is precisely because of the said shortage of classrooms that the department only admits new entrants into the system through an online application system which places learners as close to their homes as reasonably possible and on a first come first served basis. Chiloane said the online registration system was being improved continuously and has become more responsive adding that all learners whose parents applied for the current academic year were placed.

Along with the infrastructure, the department also plans on improving security at schools. There’s been increased incidents of killing of learners at schools and incidents of drowning all of which Chiloane said was being dealt with through recommendations of various investigations including on measures to put in place to avoid future occurrences.

“We have multi-certification as one of our game changers, we are the only province that has that. so going forward grade 1 learners will be given swimming lessons. so dont be surprised when your bundle of joy shows up with a swimming certificate,” he said.