29 June 2022
Media alert: Equal Education members will be protesting at Parliament tomorrow against Minister Motshekga’s proposal to remove #DeadlinesToFixSchools from the infrastructure law
Tomorrow at 8am, Equal Education (EE) Western Cape members will march to Parliament in Cape Town, against the drastic and unacceptable changes that Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga wants to make to the school infrastructure law (the Norms and Standards for Public School Infrastructure).
Her proposed changes, if passed, will mean that learners and teachers will wait for many more years for safe and proper school infrastructure. Basic Education Minister Motshekga signed the Norms and Standards into law in 2013, following years of tireless campaigning led by EE members (learners, post-school youths, teachers and parents) – supported by legal action. Never before did South Africa have a law that says what basic infrastructure a school must have, and by when it must be provided. We went to court in 2018 to get Minister Motshekga to fix gaps in the law, not to water it down!
The most scary change that Minister Motshekga wants to make to the school infrastructure law is to totally remove the deadlines that put the responsibility on the government to get rid of pit toilets – and provide basics such as water, electricity, classrooms, libraries, etc – by specific dates. Read about her other proposed changes here.
It is absolutely unhelpful that these changes have been proposed in a difficult to understand document, and that the public have been given a short period of time in which to make sense of the proposed changes and submit feedback to the Department of Basic Education (DBE).
Tomorrow, we want to remind government of its duty to guarantee learners a safe and dignified learning environment so that they are able to fully realise and enjoy their right to a quality basic education. We are also calling on the public to say no to the proposed changes to the Norms and Standards, and to make submissions to the DBE.
When: Thursday 30 June 2022 at 8am
Where: Kuizergracht Street to Parliament
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For further media comment, contact Jay-Dee Cyster (EE Communications Officer) jay-dee@equaleducation.org.za 082 924 1352
