FIRST PUBLISHED ON :WRITTEN BY : News24 | City PressZeenat Sujee and Fatima Laher The reinforcement of homeschooling regulations through the Basic Education Law Amendment (BELA), which is currently before lawmakers, is a welcome development. This regulatory framework ensures that learners are safeguarded and their fundamental right to basic education Continue Reading
23 January 2023, Johannesburg – Following the 21 September 2022 Constitutional Court victory, Blind SA and SECTION27 have drawn up a guide to Accessible Format Shifting titled #ENDINGTHEBOOKFAMINE for People Who are Blind or Visually Impaired. The guide will be launched at a Right to Research Conference at the University Continue Reading
By Gertrude Quan, Isabel Magaya and Mila Harding Should the Department of Basic Education pass this amendment, it will not only be failing its legal obligation to protect learners from the dangers of alcohol abuse, but it will be proactively assisting in the promotion of underage drinking. “What is more important Continue Reading
By Gertrude Quan, Isabel Magaya and Mila Harding Corporal punishment has been unlawful in South African schools for more than two decades – section 10 of the Schools Act, 1996 states that no person may inflict corporal punishment against a learner at a school. It is a crime. The constitutionality of Continue Reading
29 October 2020 Joint MTBPS media statement: No new money for schools, but SAA’s rescue plan equals almost a year’s worth of school infrastructure funding Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS), delivered yesterday, is devastating for many social services including basic education. The MTBPS says that government Continue Reading
20 July 2020 Joint media statement: Education rights organisations and school communities to now monitor government’s compliance with the school meals court judgment “I am excited by this judgment but also sad that we had to resort to taking the Minister and the MECs to court for what they should Continue Reading
17 July 2020 Joint media advisory: Victory for Equal Education, Limpopo school governing bodies and over nine million learners as court rules that government’s National School Nutrition Programme must immediately resume for all learners! #SchoolMealsNow #9MillionMeals #FamiliesNeedNSNP Today, Acting Deputy Judge President of the North Gauteng High Court, Judge Continue Reading
25 June 2020 Joint statement on supplementary budget: Activists lament the lack of additional funding to Basic Education sector, concerned COVID-19 mitigation measures come at expense of long-term infrastructure needs Despite the education sector facing new challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, the supplementary budget, tabled by Finance Minister Tito Mboweni Continue Reading
24 June 2020 Joint media statement: Education justice organisations successfully advocate for amended basic education directions for Covid-19 – significant wins as new Directions published Yesterday, Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga published amended Directions related to the reopening of schools and measures to manage Covid-19 in the basic Continue Reading
Feb 2021: updated school health, safety and social distancing protocol guide, and how to report non-compliance with Covid-19 measures at schools.
[UPDATE] Safety measures for schools during the COVID-19 pandemic 2 Sept 2020 – By 31 August, all grades of South African schools have returned to the classroom. In the context of COVID-19, a number of safety preconditions are necessary before schools can be reopened. The Department of Basic Education has Continue Reading
29 April 2020 Media statement: Basic education authorities have not convincingly demonstrated that all schools will be provided with the necessary resources and support to reopen next Wednesday This morning the Department of Basic Education (DBE) presented its Covid-19 sector plan to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Basic Education. Equal Education Continue Reading
