Exploring new school designs for Limpopo province

The Limpopo Department of Education and the Limpopo Department of Public Works employ a standard four-classroom block and pit latrine design for the establishment of schools in the province. These are built to cope with the desperate backlog of classrooms and toilets facing the province.

However, the existing design of the classroom block does little to address the many changes that have affected education in South Africa over the recent years.

In a project for the Limpopo Department of Public Works, CSIR Boutek has been appointed to revisit the existing classroom design and develop new designs that accommodate the changing the educational environment. This project involves the review and assessment of the existing design and the development of new classroom designs, which will be piloted by the Department and will eventually lead to recommended designs and guidelines for schools in Limpopo.

This article discusses the classroom design component of the project.

The Approach to the Project

The approach developed for the project places focus on ensuring that there is a good understanding of the issues that inform the design of school buildings. The school designs developed address these issues, which can be grouped under the following key areas, each of which requires an understanding of the local context, policy and best practice:

• The programme: this consists of the teaching and learning and other activities being accommodated by the school and includes factors such as:

  • Curriculum and different methods of teaching and learning e.g. Outcomes Based Education
  • The schools' act and other relevant government legislation
  • Inclusive education and access for disabled people
  • The Tirisano Policy
  • Information and communications technology
  
  

• The users: consisting of learners, educators and local community members and the factors affecting these users, including:

  • The Impact of HIV/AIDS on education and on communities
  • Occupant comfort in buildings
  • Access to water and sanitation
  • The school feeding scheme
  • Local economic development and job creation
  • Schools as centres for community life and development
  
  

• The buildings and site: consisting of factors that affect the design and construction of the building infrastructure itself and addresses the following:

  • Maintenance and buildability of school buildings
  • Climatic responsiveness of buildings
  • Value for money indicators
  • The balance between capital costs and life cycle costs
  • Safety and security

The Methodology

The new designs are being developed in a number of stages that range from the assessment and review of the current designs to the design, development and assessment of the proposed classroom blocks. The process for the project is as follows:

• Project definition: this includes the initial review of the existing model along with developing a better understanding of the conditions being dealt with in the different areas of the province. The Department has selected a group of six schools in the province, one in each of the districts, which will be used to pilot the design proposals. These schools were visited to develop an initial assessment of the existing four-classroom block model and to develop a better understanding of the current circumstances being dealt with in different areas of the province. The findings from these visits were then compiled under a number of "Key Issues".
  
  

• Proposal generation: the project then looked at the variables in the design of the classroom blocks that could be changed to better address these issues. These variables consisted of building or construction elements as well as spatial relationships.

  The approach being taken at this stage is that the design and construction of the classroom buildings consists of a "kit of parts" that are arranged or "assembled" in different configurations to deal with particular site and contextual conditions.

  The project thereafter developed a set of six draft proposals, which were discussed at a workshop held with representatives from both the Limpopo Department of Public Works and the Limpopo Department of Education.
  
  

• Detailed design development and testing: the next stage of the project will involve the development of detailed designs and models for the six proposals. These detailed designs will be developed and evaluated by testing against a set of indicators related to the "Key Issues" identified earlier.
  
  

• Pilot projects and assessment: the detailed designs will be handed over to the Limpopo Department of Public Works for the implementation of the pilot projects. Later stages of the projects will then include the assessment of the pilot projects both during construction and once the buildings have been occupied and have been in use for some time.
  
  

• Final outputs: the assessment of the pilot projects will then lead to the development of the final "Kit of Parts" and manual to be adopted by the Limpopo Departments of Public Works and Education for the development future schools in the province.

The following sections further describe the initial stages and outcomes of the project.

School Visits and Findings

The six schools identified by the Department of Public Works are as follows:

• Kgatla Primary School, in the Capricorn District, near Polokwane; a deep rural school consisting of a set of buildings built as part of a mission station in the 1920's, a new site has been identified nearby the relocation of the school.
  
  

• Setlopong Primary School, in the Sekhukhune District, between Polokwane and Burgersfort. This school is in a settlement in the platinum and chrome mining area near Burgersfort and has to deal with difficult soil conditions often found in these areas. The existing buildings consist of a set of community-built structures, which are to be demolished in the near future, and a set of new classroom blocks being built through support from the mining companies in the area.
  
  

• Fofoza Primary School, in the Mopani District, near Tzaneen, consists of a set of buildings built at various stages, starting with the original buildings built in the 1950's and ending with the new classrooms built in 1995. The local community is actively involved in the school and run the kiosk and feeding scheme. The educators, although dealing with difficult circumstances, have managed to effectively implement the new curriculum.
  
  

• Masungulo Primary School, in the Vhembe District, near Louis Trichardt. This school also consists of a number of buildings that have been built over some time. The buildings appear to be haphazardly arranged on a very steep and difficult site that does not have a very large portion of land.
  
  

• Chrome Mine Primary, in the Waterberg District, near Thabazimbi. This school is dealing with a severe lack of classrooms, as it actually has none and is inhabiting a set of building abandoned by a clinic that was closed in the 1960's. The surrounding township has been under the threat of relocation for some time now and this has meant that the school has not received any formal classrooms.
  
  

• Diwiti Secondary School, in the Bohlabela District, of the road between Graskop and Bushbuckridge. The only secondary school in the set consists of a very large piece of land with only four formal classrooms and two sets of toilets. A further four classrooms are being built by the Department but the school faces a particular set of challenges that are different due to it accommodating secondary school grades.

For photographs and sketch site plans of the sites, click here.

The Key Issues and Finding from the visits are briefly described below:

• Teaching and Learning:

  • Limited support for science subjects, with specific reference to the secondary school environment but also with regard to the new curriculum that deals with more hands-on learning

  • Limited support for the implementation of outcomes-based education and different teaching and learning methods

  • A lack of furniture i.e. chairs, desks, blackboards etc. The schools are either faced with not having any furniture or having furniture that is in a desperate state of disrepair.

  • A lack of staff facilities for supporting the work of educators with regard to lesson preparation, etc.

  • A lack of administration and secure storage facilities, meetings are held outdoors or classrooms are reallocated for admin and storage purposes.

  
  
• Environmental Control:

  • The schools are facing temperatures that are either too hot in summer or too cold in winter; some of the areas get extremely hot and humid in summer.

  • There is either too much ventilation, leading to cold drafts in winter and gusts of wind blowing through the classrooms; or not enough ventilation, leading to stuffy, hot internal environments.

  • A lack of natural day-lighting, in schools that often do not have electricity leading to dark interiors.

  • Noise from neighbouring classrooms and outside makes it difficult to concentrate on lessons being taught.

  
  
• Maintenance, Health and Safety:
  • No space provided for accommodating the feeding scheme in primary schools.

  • Limited support for other educational functions such as Early Childhood Development or Adult Basic Education and Training.

  • Limited or no ablution facilities at some sites, with little or no access to water.

  • Numerous cracks and structural failures caused by environmental conditions or inappropriate foundation designs or a lack of maintenance and repairs.

  • Termite and other pest problems, such as bats or birds invading the roof space.

  • Windows that open into circulation areas posing a danger of head injuries.

  • Hazardous circulation routes with cracked paving, exposed tree routes or exposed piping etc.

  • Dilapidated buildings that pose a danger of collapse or are susceptible to crime or provide shelter for snakes etc.

  • General lack of fencing around, or demarcation of, school sites.
  • Buildings are inaccessible to disabled people and schools do not have access to disabled toilets.

Proposal generation

Examples of the "Kit of Parts" approach for the development of the six draft proposals can be seen here.

The six proposals developed for the workshop with the Limpopo Department of Public Works and the Limpopo Department of Education can be seen here.

Detailed design development and testing

The six proposals are currently being developed further and tested against indicators relating to the key issues and findings described earlier. The Key Issues and the areas under which the indicators will be listed are described below:

• Environmental Control:
  • Natural day-lighting
  • Shading
  • Passive solar gain
  • Ventilation
  • Noise and acoustics
  
  
• Buildability and maintenance:
  • Domestic scale construction
  • Robust detailing
  • Cleaning
  • Maintenance
  
  
• Teaching and learning:
  • Teacher support
  • Learner activities
  • Outcomes-based education
  • Early childhood development
  
  
• Access and health:
  • Elements projecting into circulation space
  • Circulation and level changes
  • Inclusive environments
  • Water
  
  
• Community and school participation:
  • Shared use
  • Feeding scheme and other activities
  • Personalisation of school and ownership
  
  
• Adaptability and flexibility:
  • Master planning
  • Adaptability of buildings

For an early example of a proposal assessment see here.

Meet the team:

Jeremy Gibberd

Ketan Patel

Enquiries:

Jeremy Gibberd Tel: +27 12 841-2839 Email: jgibberd@csir.co.za

Ketan Patel Tel: +27 12 841-3116 Email: kpatel@csir.co.za