Gauteng Schools Programme
Innovative methodology speeds up delivery of educational infrastructure
Despite best endeavours to provide appropriate educational facilities for the children in the Gauteng Province, there was a significant backlog.
Rapid population growth in South Africa, combined with constrained funding allocations and the lack of provincial delivery capability, thwarted the Gauteng Department of Education’s (GDE’s) attempts to deal with the backlog.
The department launched the Gauteng Schools Programme in March 2011, which ran over five years and aimed to address the GDE’s immediate need for 91 new schools and the refurbishment of 273 existing schools.
Zutari, in association with BTKM Quantity Surveyors, Indigo Kulani Architects and Risk Insight, was appointed to investigate a viable programme by completing business plans for each school. The exercise covered preliminary designs, elemental costings and the completion of an overall integrated programme plan.
The GDE required the delivery of business plans for 79 schools over a three-month period. Zutari ensured the plans were completed cost-effectively and within the tight timeframe by using a dedicated, collaborative and pre-emptive mass production methodology.
Our innovative solutions paved the way for the seamless implementation of the Gauteng Schools Programme, which is enhancing the provision of better educational infrastructure in the province’s communities.
The business plans for the schools included concept designs, site layouts, full condition surveys and elemental cost estimates. In addition, a proposed implementation plan and project schedule for the establishment of every new school was developed.
The unique model that was developed had a set of standard criteria, which enabled a rapid assessment of the expected needs for new schools. Control methods were streamlined via mass information sharing, such as the tight monitoring of process flow.
Our innovative solutions paved the way for the seamless implementation of the Gauteng Schools Programme, which is enhancing the provision of better educational infrastructure in the province’s communities.
*The Aurecon Africa business has been officially renamed Zutari as at 21 July 2020. Zutari acquired Aurecon Middle East on 20 November 2020.
