School Facilities Grant (SFG) for Primary Schools Technical Handbook for Rural and Urban Staff House Buildings

Abstract

This Technical Handbook is intended to be used by all Engineers, Architects and Contractors as a guide in the construction of quality, durable and safe teacher's houses, kitchenettes and latrines for both urban and rural settings. The guidelines in this handbook have been developed by the Ministry of Education and Sports after wide consultation with stakeholders and relevant technical firms. This does not in any way mean that all interests have been taken care of, nor does it imply that all the peculiar conditions in the country have been covered in this Technical Handbook. Nevertheless, a wide spectrum of broad areas with different conditions has been focused on in this book. Cases that fall outside these guidelines should be discussed at the district level and where it is absolutely necessary they should be brought to the attention of the Ministry for special consideration. Unlike the previous handbook, where all the 20% contingency was lamped with contractors' profits and overheads, in this Handbook only 10% has been considered as profit and overheads and the other 10% is the contingency. This 10% contingency is to cater for unforeseen circumstances and offsetting peculiarities within the district. This therefore, calls for clear accountability of the contingency fund and it should be used only and only if there are unforeseen circumstances. If the contingency funds are not used, that is to say when there are no unforeseen circumstances, then the fund will be declared as a saving and should be used to construct similar facilities in district/ municipalities. In this handbook, we have teachers' houses, kitchen, and pit latrine. The designs have been made to suitably cater for earthquake prone areas, good soils and poor soils. The guidelines in this technical handbook should be carefully studied and followed so as to ensure the construction of good quality, durable and standard structures to the designs. The structural designs should supersede all other designs. This will ensure that the structures constructed have a life span of at least 30years and will require only routine basic maintenance. As clearly spelt out in the planning and implementation guidelines, not more than 15% of the funds under classroom construction will be used for these teachers' houses. Districts/Municipalities are therefore expected to make strategic decisions when allocating the resources. The Ministry of Education and Sports extends its appreciation to all financial partners especially the Netherlands Embassy for the assistance rendered in the printing of this handbook. It is my conviction that in the interest of developing Primary Education, all stakeholders will guard against misuse of resources from the time of planning to the stage of implementation, and later maintenance of the school structures. The Ministry of Education and Sports will continue to consult with all the stakeholders on the practical and cost effective changes to be introduced in this Handbook.