The Department of Education commissioned the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) to conduct a national survey on the locality and other information linked to all schools in South Africa. The 2000 version was intended to update the 1996 version of the register of needs database, include 3000 institutions that were previously excluded, provide accurate data on geolocality of schools, school conditions and the availability of resources, and measure progress and trends betwee 1996 and 2000.