The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education is looking to partner with TVET colleges to help maintain the department’s assets which will help it reduce costs and give TVET students experience.
It stated that it is concerned about the maintenance of the school’s desks and has found that it is usually more economical to purchase new desks than to repair old ones.
Head of department, Nkosinathi Ngcobo, told the members of the finance committee recently that, as a result of the costs associated with such functions, they are looking to partner with TVET colleges so that the TVET college students can help maintain the department’s assets.
He was speaking on the effort put in place by the department to reduce its costs.
Ngcobo said: “The issue of broken desks and asset management in our schools is significant. We once had a project on repairing those desks and putting them back into schools, and what we found was that sometimes the process of repairing a desk, which is supposed to save you money, was actually not a cost-saving exercise.
“We found that the difference between getting a new desk and repairing one was substantial. Therefore, what we are trying to do is to enter into partnerships with TVET colleges so that they, as they train learners, for example, in welding and woodworking, can assist us in repairing desks. Considering the normal route to get desks repaired has not yielded the results we wish, we found that the difference is so insignificant that you would rather buy new desks,’ he concluded.
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