The number of overcrowded schools has fallen from 51% in 1999 to 24% in 2006, Education Minister Naledi Pandor said on Friday.
”The number of schools with electricity has increased from 11 174 in 1996 to 20 713 in 2006, [the number of] schools without water has fallen from 8 823 in 1996 to 3 152 in 2006, and the number of schools without on-site toilets has fallen from 3 265 in 1996 to 1 532 in 2006,” she said at the opening of Thengwe Secondary School in Limpopo.
The department recently published the final National Education Information Management System (Neims) report, which contains detailed information, including digital photographs, about every school.
The report said three in four schools were in a good or excellent condition but that meant that over 7 000 schools are in a poor condition.
”There are facilities in need of maintenance and repair — schools do not have water, electricity, sanitation, access to computers, libraries or labs.”
Neims allowed the government to quantify and pinpoint infrastructural backlogs, and to plan for their eradication.
By 2008/09, spending on school buildings and fixed structures is expected to reach R4-billion a year, she said.
In Limpopo, spending on buildings and fixed structures increased from R162-million three years ago to a projected R367-million this year. — Sapa