Be proud of your school buildings
Every individual must take an interest in safeguarding these assets
Limpopo-born Mmakwena Selepe, chief director of education infrastructure in Gauteng, is tasked with the maintenance of 2 302 schools as part of his duties at the department of infrastructure development.
It is obviously a huge responsibility, something that Selepe describes as “a complex balancing act”.
He is the first to admit that there has not been adequate maintenance of the schools in the province, especially since the dawn of the new democracy in 1994. The reason, he says, is not hard to find. “The new government had to juggle competing priorities to redress injustices of the past,” he says. Inevitably, the lack of maintenance has left some schools in a shabby condition and in need of urgent attention. “It’s a mixed bag,” he admits. “Some schools are in good shape, while others obviously need attention.”
In Selepe’s book development should be a multi-dimensional process involving changes in structures, attitudes and institutions. “There first has to be a paradigm shift in the way our people regard national buildings like schools and libraries. That mental space needs special attention.”
He says there is a general miscon- ception that public buildings belong to the government, when they actually belong to the people. “Judging by the way we going on trashing and burning these buildings, we will have nothing to hand over to future generations,” he cautions. “Every individual must take an interest in safeguarding these assets.”
It pained him when more than 20 schools in the Vuwani area in Limpopo were torched recently. So far this year, he has only had to deal with minor cases involving broken windows, stolen copper wire and frames.
It is Selepe’s contention that development should encompass more than the material and financial side of people’s lives. He believes that the level of infrastructure development in a country is a crucial factor in determining the pace and diversity of economic development.
To this end, his department has introduced new designs for schools in the province. A flagship project is currently under way in Garankuwa in Tshwane, which, according to Selepe, “can make you emotional”.
He says the latest prototype designs for schools provide an environment conducive to learning for both learners and teachers. “It is a holistic approach so we can retain good teachers in our schools. Professionals always compare their working conditions.”
South African schools are big on average, catering for between 1 000 to 1 200 kids. In the new design, the schools have an energy efficient strategy with better insulation in the roof to manage indoor temperatures. The new ceilings are also acoustically designed, to better manage classroom noise levels.
School furniture has been subject to theft for years; Selepe says they have recently designed a unique type of school desk. Gone are the plastic chairs, replaced by a desk with a combined seat, immediately evident as belonging to the department.
“Anybody caught in possession of our furniture will have to explain the how he or she got hold of it,” he warned.
While Selepe’s mandate is, among others, to offer support in terms of development and preservation of schools and doing technical investigations, he is adament that development should be “above brick and mortar issues”.