part a: strategic overview - Department of Education

The obvious group of small schools where re-organization is to take place is that of farm
schools. Here a number of schools that have become unviable have already been
amalgamated or closed down.
15.3.3 Maintenance and Refurbishment
Major maintenance and refurbishment are also undertaken at all schools where additional
accommodation is being provided under the capital works programme, while minor
maintenance is carried out by the school itself (Section 21 schools) or by the District Office on
behalf of the school (Section 20 schools) – note that funds for minor maintenance are not
channeled through the infrastructure budget.
However, the condition of many of the Department’s buildings is such that significant repair
and renovation is required, as is evident from the table below:
Table 47:
1: Condition of Capital Stock (April 2005)
Condition Number %
Very Weak (mud) 939 12.5
Weak 3,148 41.9
In Need of Repair 2,207 29.4
Good Condition 963 12.8
New Building 52 0.7
Being Upgraded 201 2.7
No Response 0 0
TOTAL 7,510 100
Note that the table above includes all ECDoE facilities and not just schools.
All schools have been categorized according to well defined needs in the Education Facilities
Management System (EFMS). It is the Department’s endeavour to introduce a cyclic
maintenance programme as part of its increasing focus on life cycle planning / costing. This
will, however, require significantly more funding than is currently the case. Maintenance
currently accounts for approximately 15% of the budget, and this will need to be increased
substantially. Unfortunately the extent of the backlogs places a greater demand on the budget
at present.
15.3.4 Asset Management Plan
The Department’s Physical Resource Planning section has prepared a 10-year asset
management plan (known as the Infrastructure Plan) for the period 2005-2014. This sets out
the current infrastructure situation, proposed levels of service, principles for provision of
facilities, and plans for intervention. The policies and strategies contained in this Strategic
Plan are in turn reflected in the Infrastructure Plan where these affect physical infrastructure
in any way.
The Infrastructure Plan, of which the first edition was only produced in 2005/06, is in the
process of progressive sophistication. Initially it was in effect only an annual project list, but
now endeavours to cover the entire infrastructure life cycle. This implies a much stronger
focus on post construction aspects such as operational costs, maintenance, rehabilitation and
ultimately disposal. The establishment of the EFMS was the first step in this process. Other
current activities include
� the introduction and implementation of best practices in infrastructure planning and
delivery (through the Infrastructure Delivery Improvement Programme (IDIP), and
� broadening the base of Implementing Agents employed for infrastructure delivery and
strengthening of the performance agreements with these agents.
The Department now has formal Service Level Agreements with the Department of Public
Works, the Independent Development Trust, the Amatola Water board, and Eskom. It is also
5 Year ECDoE Strategic Plan for 2005/06 to 2009/10. March 2006 Page 98
5 Year ECDoE Strategic Plan for 2005-06 to 2009-10. 21 F (5) Page 94
part C: background information