QESP (Quality Education Support Program) is conceptualised to support the implementation of Egypt’s “Pre-University Education National Strategic Plan 2007/8 – 2011/12”, part of which consists of further strengthening the implementation of the Government’s decentralisation policy. The Programme’s concept is based on the Ministry of Education’s (MoE) explicit request to create a more comprehensive approach than in previous programme phases and to combine the provision of physical infrastructure (Investment Component) with a Social Component (provided by the International Consultant’s Social Experts and NGOs) aiming at improving the quality of education as well as the learning environment.

Elementary schools can be designed in a variety of sizes, configurations, and layouts depending on the school district and the program.

The physical organisation of the school needs to provide easy navigation that builds confidence without sacrificing safety and security. schools also require space for lockers, science labs, art studios, industrial arts, choral and band, and other programs. Media centres, often as large as 150 m², are more sophisticated and frequently used. For these reasons, and to separate young children from older students, primary and middle school spaces must be delineated.

Regardless of the school’s configuration, designs fulfil the need of a healthy and stimulating environment in which to learn. Designs provide spaces that will be visually comfortable, acoustically, and thermally; with excellent indoor air quality; and at the same time safe and secure. These buildings should also be good ‘environmental citizens’ as they are teaching tools in and of themselves. Community leaders, parents, and educators value schools that have a strong connection to the community. Finally, elementary schools need to be cost effective in order to maximise limited funding and provide the best learning environments possible for the budget.

Maintenance and maintenance-friendliness of infrastructure is of paramount importance in the design of schools and the architect/planner mustexert utmost care to develop for schools design details, which will facilitate the maintenance of any given building in the long term. This applies also to the selection of the material suitable for each space. The following photos shows some maintenance problems which resulted from wrong material selection or lack of required protective items.

Maintenance & Vandalism

There is no material which  can be secured against wilful damage. It has to be kept in mind that poor maintenance and poor housekeeping is one of the reasons for vandalism. Where a hundred broken things exist everyone feels that a hundred plus one will not be noticed.