Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga has just over a year to to supply every Eastern Cape school with all the school furniture they require.The Mthatha High Court has ordered Motshekga’s department to set up a school furniture task team for all provincial schools, audit their school furniture needs and make sure each school receives exactly what they need by April next year.
The latest court order is the fourth since 2012 to do with school furniture and was made by agreement between Motshekga and the Centre for Child Law (CCL).
More than 2000 or some 40% of the province’s 5700 schools need furniture said the CCL and its legal representatives the Legal Resources Centre (LRC) in a joint statement.
Court orders in 2012, 2013, and 2014 have to date resulted in more than 200000 units of furniture being delivered to schools in the Eastern Cape, the LRC said in a statement.
“But many schools continue to have learners sitting on the floor, sitting on makeshift seats made from bricks and paint tins, or sitting four to a desk designed for two.
“It is hardly surprising that the Eastern Cape province had one of the worst matric pass rates at the end of 2015.”
In 2014 Judge Glenn Goosen gave the minister until May that year to respond to the furniture shortages endemic to schools in the province.
The groundbreaking judgment found education to be an immediately realisable right and that the supply of appropriate school furniture formed part of that right.
“It also highlighted that resource and budget constraints are not an acceptable excuse where a constitutional right is being violated,” said the statement.
But the order also gave the minister the right to approach the court to extend the timeframe, which Motshekga subsequently did.
Yesterday’s order came about as a combination of Motshekga’s application for an extension, and the CCL’s counter application for systemic relief in the form of a new audit, publication of the audit findings, and a specified date for delivery of all furniture.
In court papers, the department said some R300-million had been allocated to furniture production and delivery since the inception of the litigation in 2012 and more than 280000 units of furniture had been delivered to schools.
Yesterday’s court order requires Motshekga and her provincial counterpart Mandla Makapula to appoint the task team to prepare and publish a consolidated list of furniture needs of all public schools in the province by May this year.
After verifying the list, the minister is required to supply the furniture by April next year.
The CCL and the LRC welcomed the latest court order. It said it hoped the order would be complied with and that pupils’ right to a basic education in a properly equipped environment would be upheld.
Furniture a must for EC schools
The Mthatha High Court has ordered Motshekga’s department to set up a school furniture task team for all provincial schools, audit their school furniture needs and make sure each school receives exactly what they need by April next year.
The latest court order is the fourth since 2012 to do with school furniture and was made by agreement between Motshekga and the Centre for Child Law (CCL).
More than 2000 or some 40% of the province’s 5700 schools need furniture said the CCL and its legal representatives the Legal Resources Centre (LRC) in a joint statement.
Court orders in 2012, 2013, and 2014 have to date resulted in more than 200000 units of furniture being delivered to schools in the Eastern Cape, the LRC said in a statement.
“But many schools continue to have learners sitting on the floor, sitting on makeshift seats made from bricks and paint tins, or sitting four to a desk designed for two.
“It is hardly surprising that the Eastern Cape province had one of the worst matric pass rates at the end of 2015.”
In 2014 Judge Glenn Goosen gave the minister until May that year to respond to the furniture shortages endemic to schools in the province.
The groundbreaking judgment found education to be an immediately realisable right and that the supply of appropriate school furniture formed part of that right.
“It also highlighted that resource and budget constraints are not an acceptable excuse where a constitutional right is being violated,” said the statement.
But the order also gave the minister the right to approach the court to extend the timeframe, which Motshekga subsequently did.
Yesterday’s order came about as a combination of Motshekga’s application for an extension, and the CCL’s counter application for systemic relief in the form of a new audit, publication of the audit findings, and a specified date for delivery of all furniture.
In court papers, the department said some R300-million had been allocated to furniture production and delivery since the inception of the litigation in 2012 and more than 280000 units of furniture had been delivered to schools.
Yesterday’s court order requires Motshekga and her provincial counterpart Mandla Makapula to appoint the task team to prepare and publish a consolidated list of furniture needs of all public schools in the province by May this year.
After verifying the list, the minister is required to supply the furniture by April next year.
The CCL and the LRC welcomed the latest court order. It said it hoped the order would be complied with and that pupils’ right to a basic education in a properly equipped environment would be upheld.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending Now
Latest Videos