Johnathan Paoli
Education NGOs Equal Education (EE) and the Equal Education Law Centre (EELC) have returned to the Western Cape High Court in order to continue with their challenge to compel the Western Cape Education Department to enroll remaining unplaced children in available schools.
EE alongside five parents represented by the EELC were in court on Monday to have the matter put on the unopposed roll following the dismissal of its urgent application on Friday seeking the immediate placement of all unplaced learners in the Western Cape.
EE’s Nontsikele Dlulani said they were disappointed by the decision taken by the court and believe the Judge made an error.
Dlulani said that the court made an error of judgement in striking the matter off of the urgent court roll without having read their court papers or even giving their legal representatives an opportunity to address her on the urgency of the matter.
“While we have faced various hurdles, we trust that the High Court, as the upper guardian of every child in South Africa, will protect the rights of children who remain unplaced without access to basic education or remedial support while awaiting placement. We are hopeful that it will recognise that children remaining without a school, four months into the 2024 academic year, is an urgent matter,” Dlulani said.
EE said that its decision to litigate followed a series of attempts to engage the WC government on placing out-of-school learners, with efforts allegedly being met with indifferent responses, “legal gymnastics” and “Stalingrad litigation tactics”.
The NGO confirmed that today’s appearance in court for placement on the unopposed urgent roll was also to urge the provincial education department to put remedial catch-up plans in place and to provide a detailed report on the reasons for the continuous non-placement as well how an admissions crisis could be dealt with in the future.
The Western Cape Education Department said that it is ready to help find schools for unplaced pupils as the current school year nears its fifth month, with WC Provincial MEC for Education, David Maynier defending the department and saying it is disappointed by the group’s approach.
“We are currently resolving remaining cases where Equal Education initially provided us with insufficient information to identify and place the learners,” Maynier said.
The MEC said that wherever the department was made aware of learners needing a place, it acted immediately to find a place for them in a school and to resolve any issues that may arise in the process.
The court questioned why the matter was placed on the urgent roll when the legal teams for Equal Education had placed a note saying if the WCED’s counsel had not responded by April 25, they would place the matter on the unopposed roll.
The WCED’s legal team said as they had responded the matter should be moved off the urgent roll and the court agreed.
Meanwhile, the WCED has reopened online admissions for Grades 1 and 8 learners for the 2025 academic year because they have received over 8 000 late applications.
INSIDE EDUCATION
