Question NW1684 to the Minister of Basic Education
06 January 2020 - NW1684
De Freitas, Mr MS to ask the Minister of Basic Education
Whether any assessments have been done to ascertain the need for additional schools to be built in Johannesburg in Wards 23, 54, 55, 56, 57, 124 and 125; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what (a) was the outcome of each such assessment, (b) plans are in place to build additional schools in the specified areas and (c) are the timeframes and deadlines in this regard?
Reply:
Information received from the Gauteng Department of Education indicates that their Districts have completed infrastructure assessments with regard to the number and type of facilities during the 2018/19 financial year. This data informs the number of additional facilities, including classrooms, required per school and by implication the number of new schools required in any given residential area.
a) The table below summarises the findings of the assessments for all the schools in the 7 wards:
http://pmg-assets.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/RNW1684_Table.pdf
Based on a learner: classroom ratio of 40:1, none the schools in the 7 wards are overcrowded except one secondary school in Ward 55, i.e. Glenvista Secondary School. The school is overcrowded by 77 learners and this will be addressed by providing the school with 2 additional classrooms.
b) Given the current occupancy rate of the schools in the 7 wards there is no need for additional schools in the area. When a growth in learner enrolment in any of the schools occurs, the need will be addressed by providing additional classrooms to the affected schools.
It must be noted that where new schools are to be built that the availability of suitable sites are key. If suitable sites are available there are several processes that must be complied with before construction work can commence. These include inter alia the finalisation of ownership, approval of applications for rezoning if required, Environmental Impact Assessments, Traffic Impact Studies, Geotechnical Surveys and the approval of Site Development Plans by the relevant municipality. This is however not applicable to these 7 wards at this stage as there are currently no plans in place to build new schools. If new schools are to be built in any of these areas in the future, the above mentioned processes will have to be complied with.
c) See (b) above