3 December 2020
Media alert: Tomorrow, 4 December, Equal Education Eastern Cape is hosting a conversation between learners, parents and the Eastern Cape Department of Education on the Norms and Standards for Public School Infrastructure and the state of Eastern Cape schools
#FixOurSchools!
Tomorrow, 4 December, in celebration of the work Equal Education (EE) has done in getting government to adopt and implement the Norms and Standards for Public School Infrastructure, EE Eastern Cape will be hosting a gathering to encourage conversations between parents, learners and the Eastern Cape Department of Education (ECDoE), about progress and failures in meeting the 2020 deadline of the Norms and Standards.
The Norms and Standards were signed into law by Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga in 2013, following years of tireless campaigning by EE members (learners, post-school youths, teachers and parents). Since then, thousands of schools have received water, electricity and decent toilets, and hundreds of schools made of inappropriate materials, such as mud and asbestos, have been replaced. Getting these victories has not been easy – we have had to carefully monitor the implementation of the law, mobilise affected school communities and take to the streets often to demand accountability.
According to the Norms and Standards, all schools should have been provided with enough classrooms, electricity, water, and toilets, and with fences, telephones and internet by 29 November 2020.
Our engagements with education departments, and our analysis of the latest provincial school infrastructure reports, show that the departments still struggle with providing accurate and accessible data, clear and coordinated planning, as well as making sure that the implementing agents and contractors that build schools on behalf of government are held accountable.
Our conversation aims to determine ways in which the ECDoE can minimise the backlog in meeting the 2020 Norms and Standards deadline, as well as highlight the consequences of budget cuts on infrastructure projects that are underway.
When: Friday 4 December 2020
Time: 10:30am
Where: Nompendulo High School, Zone 10, Zwelitsha
For further information, contact:
Jay-Dee Cyster (Equal Education Communications Officer) jay-dee@equaleducation.org.za or 082 924 1352
