Education department taken to court

2012-06-04 14:21

Angie Motshekga

Johannesburg - The department of basic education has been taken to court to compel it to allocate teachers to schools and pupils to teachers in the Eastern Cape.

The Legal Resources Centre (LRC) said on Monday it filed an application against the department in the Eastern Cape High Court in Grahamstown last week.

The LRC was acting on behalf of the Centre for Child Law (CCL), four school governing bodies in the Eastern Cape and the Bethelsdorp school governing body unit, representing 17 schools in Port Elizabeth.

The application sought the same process for 2013, known as post provisioning, to be declared by September 30 and completed by December 30, said CCL director Ann Skelton, in court papers.

"The EC department’s failure to implement the 2012 post provisioning has led to many schools being placed in a situation of crisis and financial peril," she said.

This was the third application filed this year by the LRC against the department over education in the Eastern Cape.

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga was urged to sit down and speak to NGOs litigating against the department so pupil's rights to an education were met, said LRC director Sarah Sephton.

"Meaningful conversation could lead to all the parties working together rather than fighting for basic rights in the courts."

- SAPA