Johnathan Paoli
Equal Education and the Equal Education Law Centre expressed outrage at the Western Cape High Court’s ruling on the regulation of collaboration schools, donor-funded schools, and intervention facilities introduced in the Western Cape Provincial School Education Amendment Act 4 of 2018
This follows the steady systematic introduction of collaboration and donor-funded schools, which would be granted significant freedom by the new legislation in addition to the establishment of intervention facilities for “serious misconduct: offending learners.
This would culminate in the removal of a learner from the formal education system for up to a year.
“EE has consistently advocated for regulatory frameworks that protect the best interests of learners. This formed the basis of our court challenge, which was specifically about the provisions in the Amendment Act around collaboration schools, donor-funded schools, and intervention facilities that were vague, inconsistent with the Constitution and in conflict with the South African Schools Act,” the NGO said in a statement.
The Western Cape Education Department’s Collaboration Schools project reflects the commitment of the Western Cape Government to innovation, as it explores all options for improving opportunities for all citizens, especially in poor communities, the department said, adding that the project is one of a range of pro-poor initiatives by the WCED designed to improve the quality of education in our poorest schools.
The NGO said it would study the judgement and set out a subsequent media statement at a later time, still to be determined.
INSIDE EDUCATION
