1. SOME MATTERS TO CONSIDER WHEN CLOSING AND MERGING SCHOOLS

2. PROBLEM STATEMENT
The basic education sector considered that while its drive is to ensure accessibility by all its learners to quality education that is delivered in safe, accessible, and quality education facilities, running a number of very small/micro schools was compromising its efforts and was weakening its aim of providing curriculum support effectively, efficiently and cost effectively. Regardless of the size of a school, the Department has an obligation of providing it with adequate number of teachers and appropriate school facilities with sufficient number of classrooms and other functional spaces.
Learners in micro schools are not able to have a wide subject choice, especially in secondary schools, and also there are limited sport codes, therefore participation in sport and other extracurricular and/or extramural activities is compromised. The effectiveness of teaching is also affected by multi-grade teaching that is found in micro primary schools.

3. PROBLEM STATEMENT
The Department therefore considered it prudent to close down some of the micro schools and merge them with nearby schools as part of the School Rationalisation Process.
The primary objective of the School Rationalisation Process is therefore to ensure that where possible, micro schools that are unviable are closed down and merged with nearby schools, having taken certain factors into consideration.

4. STRATEGIC INTENT OF THE SRRP
The primary objective of the School Rationalisation process is to continue providing universal access to quality basic education in a rational manner, doing so cost effectively with respect to resource provisioning, where the costs being referred to are not only limited to monetary costs but also socio-economic imperatives.
The SRRP is pursued in the interest of learners and is not intended to deny or compromise access by learners to quality education.

5. CONDITIONS PRECEDENT TO SRRP
No school should be closed down and merged with another school and no learners and educators should be moved to the merged school (i.e. Host School) unless:
(i) All the applicable legislative processes have been adhered to;
(ii) Consultations have been held with and Written Notices issued to all the relevant Interested and Affected Parties (I&APs)
(iii) All the Human Resource related matters pertaining to the affected School Governing Bodies (SGBs), educators, learners, administrative and support staff have been addressed and concluded amicably;
(iv) All the necessary infrastructure provisions have been made and finalised at the Host School or Receiving School to accommodate the additional learners and members of staff from the schools earmarked for closure or Re-aligned Schools

6. CONDITIONS PRECEDENT TO SRRP
(v) All the transport arrangements have been confirmed and finalised with the relevant Department of Transport, i.e. in instances where the learner transport needs to be provided.
(vi) Where Learner Accommodation Facilities would be provided, to ensure that facilities that are complete and ready for occupation are available; being safe, built of appropriate materials, of acceptable quality standards, fully equipped with all the requisite support spaces, recreational facilities and the necessary furniture, fittings and equipment (FFE)
(vii) All the attendant Administrative Processes been finalised.
(viii) All the relevant Support Processes been initiated and, where possible, concluded.

7. Buildings/ Infrastructure
In merging a school there would be the need to establish:
Is there sufficient accommodation at the receiving school since these schools might require additional facilities or educators to take up the intake of additional learners;
What opportunities exist for the transfer of the school to be vacated to another use, government department or institution/organization? Even if this is possible the change of function might require modifications and or alterations to the receiving school.

8. Educators/staffing
Some serving educators may be deemed to be in addition to the new establishment.
In terms of section 6 or section 8 of the Employment of Educators Act, 1998 as amended, the head of department may transfer an educator who is in addition to another post in the department that matches his/her skills and experience.
This aspect is fully covered by Resolution No. 6 of the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC), dealing with the procedures for rationalisation and redeployment of educators in the provisioning of educator posts.

9. LEARNER TEACHER SUPPORT MATERIALS (LTSM)
In a merger situation there a need to take specific account of :
The nature of the books and learner teacher support to be supplied to a receiving school since this might also constitute a challenge in that the planning for a receiving schools books needs might need to be adjusted to accommodate types and numbers of books for different grades to those of the receiving school. The upstream planning in provincial departments of education will have to make provision for such eventualities;
The supply chain adjustments that will also need attention since the planning and budgeting for LTSM will already have taken account of the MTEF period going forward.

10. Learner transport
Learner transport and boarding facilities are to be considered as an integral part of this process.
Addressing distances to be covered in such a merger will also need to be addressed in terms of both costing frameworks as well as educational district boundaries;
Learner transport funding and budgets will also need to be factored in.

11. School Nutrition
The forward planning for a schools nutrition plan will also need to be accommodated within the MTEF budgeting and planning frameworks of the provinces.
Schools nutrition by its very nature could require additional accommodation for food preparation and food storage all of which is to meet health and safety standards.

12. School furniture
In a merger process the issue of furniture will include the following considerations;
Whether there is sufficient furniture at the receiving school to accommodate the number of learners to be accommodated,
Ensuring that where shortages are identified, these are dealt with on time to minimise the negative effect on teaching and learning when the transfer of learners and educators occur.

13. CONSIDERATIONS FOR LETTING MICRO SCHOOLS TO CONTINUE OPERATING
The areas to be considered include:
The distance of the next nearest school from the catchment area, and the condition of the roads;
Existence of topographical and/or man-made physical barriers;
The general safety and security concerns; and
Potential future reversal of the current learner migration patterns requiring a need for re-establishment of some of the schools that would have been closed down, especially in the townships because of population growth rates and inflow of people from other areas