Dept asked to fix school regulations!

NEW Minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube has been urged to address concerns regarding the recently amended school infrastructure regulations.

Civil society organisations, including Equal Education (EE), Section27, the Equal Education Law Centre (EELC), and the Legal Resources Centre (LRC), have criticised the amendments as regressive.

The revised regulations concerning minimum uniform norms and standards for public School Infrastructure were published in the Government Gazette on 27 June 2024.

According to the organisations, these amendments "dilute critical obligations previously placed on the DBE (Department of Education) and provincial education departments (PEDs) to make urgent and adequate provision for infrastructure at public schools. The amendments are a regressive measure that demonstrates a shift from ensuring equality in education, particularly for black learners and learners from rural and low-income areas," as stated in their joint statement.

The statement highlighted that the original regulations, first published in 2013 following a significant victory secured by EE's high school learner members, were designed to establish a set of minimum standards for infrastructure that all public schools were required to meet to ensure safety and proper functionality.

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The NGOs noted that while the 2013 regulations were not perfect, they provided clear deadlines for when public schools needed to be equipped with basic infrastructure such as water, electricity, classrooms, toilets, and fencing, among others.

"It also required that all schools made of inappropriate materials like mud, asbestos, metal, or wood be fixed by November. These regulations were therefore a powerful tool through which school communities could hold the DBE and PEDs accountable, particularly when they failed to meet these deadlines," the statement read.

On 28 May 2024, a day before the elections, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) published revised School Infrastructure Regulations, which notably removed most deadlines.

The organisations expressed their concerns.

"These revised regulations were withdrawn days later, with no formal justification publicly provided by the DBE. Considering the severe infrastructure backlogs that continue to plague public schools, particularly in KZN, Limpopo, and the Eastern Cape, we're concerned that the revised school infrastructure regulations are retrogressive and will only exacerbate already-existing backlogs," they said.