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A long-running struggle for learners’ equitable access to schools in the Western Cape has yielded key victories through an ongoing litigation process against the Western Cape provincial government. In April 2024, Equal Education (EE), alongside parent applicants, represented by the Equal Education Law Centre (EELC), launched an urgent application for immediate placement of a group of out-of-school learners, challenging the Western Cape Education Department’s (WCED) admission policy for its failure to plan for the processing of all categories of late applications and, in the interim, asking the WCED to set up late application pop-up stations in the Metro East Education District for the 2025 academic year.
Significant gains have been made as a result of the litigation and continuous engagement with parents and the WCED. Importantly in Part A of our application the court ruled that the out-of-school learners be placed in schools for the remainder of 2024. These learners now await their academic results. Significantly, the court’s reasons defined the meaning of learner placement, as being a learner must have received a placement letter and be able to actually attend classes. This is an important development because it is now not enough for the WCED to simply say a learner is “placed” in terms of their online application system- when factually, as in the past, they are not in school and unable to attend the said school for various reasons. The WCED has an active duty to ensure that learners are meaningfully placed in schools and are able to physically attend school and access learning. Part A’s victories will continue to have an effect on the administration of admissions in the Western Cape in the coming school years.
Part B, which focuses on the WCED’s policy on late applications, was scheduled to be heard in court on 15 November 2024. In an effort to continue constructive engagements with the WCED to find resolutions that will best serve the affected parents and learners in the Western Cape, the applicants (EE and parent applicants) agreed to the WCED’s request for a postponement of the hearing on the condition that in the interim, systems and processes are put in place for the processing of late applications for the 2025 academic year.
As a result, on 15 November 2024, the Western Cape High Court issued an order, as follows:
The WCED will promulgate Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for the processing of late applications in the Western Cape which will take effect on 2 December 2024 (today);
Importantly, the WCED is ordered to put in place admission pop-up stations in Khayelitsha Mall, Somerset Crossing, Eerste River, Bloekombos Bloch Centre, and Kuils River on the following dates: 16, 23, and 30 November 2024; 11, 18, and 25 January 2025; and 1 February 2025.
Significantly, prior to the order of the court and due to our ongoing engagements with the WCED, pop-up stations had already started operating in these key areas weeks before the order. Through our monitoring, we observed long lines of parents queuing from the early mornings in an attempt to secure a school place for their children.
We welcome these measures and believe that, if implemented effectively, and coupled with a proper review of the WCED’s existing Admissions Policy, through public consultations, with the objective to ensure the adequate management of all categories of late applications these measures will advance the struggle towards more equitable admissions processes and systems in the Western Cape.
We will continue to monitor the implementation and effectiveness of the above interim measures, and encourage all parents and caregivers whose children still need school places for the 2025 school year to make use of the services provided by the WCED as part of EE and the EELC’s ongoing efforts to protect and advance learners’ access to equitable and quality education.
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To arrange a media interview, contact:
Ayanda Sishi-Wigzell (Equal Education Communications Manager) ayanda@equaleducation.org.za 076 879 3017
Jay-Dee Booysen (Equal Education Law Centre Media and Communications Specialist) jay-dee@eelawcentre.org.za or 082 924 1352
The post Joint media statement: Hard-won gains toward achieving equal access to schools for all learners in the Western Cape appeared first on Equal Education.
