The Commission commends and welcomes substantial progress made by the WCED following the Commission’s intervention, including a meeting with the MEC for Education, Debbie Schäfer MPP, to solve the untenable situation where thousands of learners were deprived of their Constitution right to basic education. Equally, the Commission regrets that at this very late stage, there is still a significant number of learners that have missed a whole quarter of schooling and are yet to be placed.

The WCED has informed the Commission that, inter alia, it has procured 129 mobile classrooms and has created over 170 teaching posts. In the interim the WCED is accommodating learners in alternative spaces such as school halls, until mobile classrooms are constructed and is updating its (projection) intake data. The WCED has committed to ensuring that all cases of unplaced learners are resolved in due course.

The Commission will continue to engage the WCED to ensure that all learners are placed and are receiving education. Further, the Commission urges all provincial departments to be proactive, and to take steps to mitigate challenges in the placement of learners in the coming year, by reassessing their planning and funding strategies. The Commission will also continue to closely monitor funding and budgetary implications at both national and provincial levels; and continue to monitor and seek to enhance the accuracy of the provincial equitable share with respect to infrastructure and post provisioning.

The Commission remains committed to ensuring that the right to basic education is immediately realised.

The full report of the WCED is on the SAHRC’s website, and can be accessed here.

Ends

Issued by the South African Human Rights Commission

Gushwell Brooks – Communications Co-ordinator Tel: 082 645 8573 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.