EC schools win another court battle against Eds Dept.

01 Feb 2016 | Admin Author

Three rural Eastern Cape schools have won an important legal victory over the Education Department to provide them with proper desks and chairs.

An agreement between the Department and the Grahamstown-based Legal Resources Centre and the Child Law Clinic, was made an order of court in Mthatha on Thursday.

LRC attorney, Cameron McConnachie, says the court has also ordered the Department of Education to conduct a comprehensive furniture audit at all public schools in the Eastern Cape and to make sure that those needs are met by June next year.

"We welcome the DBE's willingness to engage with us and find common ground. We are hopeful that the on-going furniture crisis in the province will now be resolved and that the DBE's soon to be formed "furniture task team" will be successful," he said.

McConnachie says "we certainly do not want to return to court, and will assist DBE in any way we can to ensure that children are no longer sitting on the floor, or squashed four to a desk designed for two."

He says without furniture learners do not benefit from many of the other resources which the DBE is investing in them.

"Learners can't use their textbooks and workbooks properly; stationery is wasted; and teachers are unable to teach effectively. How useful is a beautiful new classroom with a good teacher in it if there is no furniture for the children?" McConnachie said.