Equal Education welcomes the new Draft Norms & Standards for School Infrastructure released today

Thursday, 12 September 2013

Equal Education (EE) welcomes the new draft Minimum Norms and Standards for School Infrastructure which the Department of Basic Education (DBE) released for public comment today.

In releasing the draft, the minister has complied with the court order of the Bhisho High Court, issued on 11 July 2013. 

The court order specified that:

"The Minister must, by 12 September 2013, publish for comments, amended draft regulations for Minimum Uniform Norms and Standards for School Infrastructure..."

As per the court order, the minister must prescribe final norms and standards by November 30 this year.

This court-ordered timetable results from the fact that Minister Motshekga did not abide by a previous timetable specified in the November 2012 out-of-court settlement which she had reached with Equal Education. Under the previous timetable, the final regulations were due on 15 May 2013, a deadline which Minister Motshekga did not meet. For a full history of Equal Education's norms and standards campaign, click here. 

EE is currently studying the new draft which, as per the court order, should be an amended draft. The first draft was issued on 9 January 2013, and was widely criticized by the public and civil society. 

The Minister ultimately acknowledged, after receiving many objections to the January draft, that stakeholders were justifiably aggrieved in objecting "to the fact that the norms and standards lack substance and certainty, and that there is no clear framework or plan for implementing the norms and standards".  

The closing date for public comment on the new draft is 11 October 2013. The Minister's call for comment can be viewed here.

EE and its legal representatives, in this case the Legal Resources Centre, are currently scrutinising the new draft, and will deliver comment in due course. We look forward to engaging with the DBE on the new draft.

Statement issued by Equal Education, September 12 2013

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