Equal Education (EE) wishes to express its support for litigation instituted by SECTION 27, Hanyani Thomo Secondary School and Tondani Lydia Masiphephethu (the applicants) against the Minister of Basic Education and the Limpopo Department of Basic Education (see links below).
The applicants have decided to take the Minister and the Limpopo Department of Education to court after they failed to ensure that school textbooks were delivered to learners five months into the school year.
It is widely acknowledged, including by the Department of Basic Education, that school textbooks are critical to ensuring proper teaching and learning. This is even more so where a new curriculum has been introduced, which has required the provision of new relevant textbooks. It is thus unfortunate that litigation has had to be brought against the Minister and the provincial education department for failing to ensure that learners are provided with this essential resource. Furthermore, it is unfortunate that both the respondents have opted to oppose the litigation, instead of working together with the applicants to ensure that they fulfil the rights to basic education and equality enjoyed by all learners.
EE members will be at the North Gauteng High Court at 10am on Tuesday 15 May to show support for the applicants and to follow the court proceedings.
For more information contact Lukhanyo Mangona on 076 551 5894 or 011 026 6225.
For more information on the case see the SECTION 27 website:
