Equal Education media alert: Equal Education in the Eastern Cape to march to the Eastern Cape Department of Education offices to demand accountability for the unmet deadlines in the Norms and Standards for Public School Infrastructure

27 November 2023

Equal Education media alert: Equal Education in the Eastern Cape to march to the Eastern Cape Department of Education offices to demand accountability for the unmet deadlines in the Norms and Standards for Public School Infrastructure 

#FixOurSchools

Tomorrow, 28 November 2023, Equal Education (EE) members in the Eastern Cape will march to the Eastern Cape Department of Education’s (ECDoE) office in Zwelitsha Zone 6 to demand accountability for the unmet deadlines in the Norms and Standards for Public School Infrastructure. This 29 November marks 10 years since the promulgation of the law and the ECDoE and Department of Basic Education have not met any of the infrastructure deadlines stipulated by this law. 

The Eastern Cape, together with Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal, account for the majority of the national school infrastructure backlogs. It is evident that the ECDoE lacks the political will to address these backlogs in the province’s schools. 

Equal Education demands that the ECDoE:  

1. Eradicate all plain pit latrines in Eastern Cape schools, in compliance with the 2016 Norms and Standards deadline.
2. Must publicly release the 2022 Norms report to enable public accountability.
3. Must provide the needed accountability on implementing agents (IAs) and contractors that build schools by :
   1. Being  part of and attending regularly steering committee meetings;
   2. Holding service providers accountable by submitting the names of  IAs and contractors in contravention of Supply Chain Management (SCM) regulations and policy to National Treasury’s database of restricted suppliers; and
   3. Imposing financial penalties on contractors and professional service providers for slow progress of projects.

We demand that the ECDoE recognises the severity of the poor school infrastructure conditions that learners in the Eastern Cape are subjected to. The ECDoE must rectify these conditions by fulfilling the requirements set out in the Norms and Standards for Public School Infrastructure. 

When: Tuesday 28 November 2023

Time: 12pm 

Where: From Taxi Rank Zone 1 to ECDoE offices Zone 6 Zwelitsha

For further information or to arrange an interview, contact:

Jay-Dee Booysen (Equal Education Communications Manager) jay-dee@equaleducation.org.za or 082 924 1352