First shots fired in battle to protect single-medium schools: FEDSAS lodges urgent court application in Gauteng

20 May 2015

The Gauteng Education Department will have to prove in a court of law that this Department does not have a deliberate strategy against Afrikaans single-medium schools. The Federation of Governing Bodies of South African Schools (FEDSAS) has issued and served urgent court documents yesterday, and an urgent court application will be heard in the Gauteng High Court on 26 May 2015.

Afrikaans single-medium schools in this province have been informed by the Department that new learners have to be admitted to these schools starting next term, and that these learners are to be taught in English. Last month, departmental documents were leaked in which mainly Afrikaans single-medium schools are allegedly targeted to become parallel-medium schools. A departmental task team has been appointed to investigate available capacity at these schools. The Gauteng Education MEC, Mr Panyaza Lesufi, has confirmed that the aim is simply to determine capacity, however the document mainly refers to Afrikaans single-medium schools.

“FEDSAS has gone out of its way to keep this matter out of the courts. This includes a meeting with Mr Lesufi during which he again confirmed that his Department does not have a hidden agenda as seems apparent in the leaked documents. However, the opposite has now happened and FEDSAS has no other option than to ask the court to intervene urgently to protect the interests of the organisation’s members,” says Mr Paul Colditz, CEO of FEDSAS.

FEDSAS is asking the court to instruct that the process be halted immediately. “The application is urgent because a number of school principals have been victimised by departmental officials already. These officials are guilty of an absolute abuse of power,” says Dr Jaco Deacon, Deputy CEO of FEDSAS.

Deacon says it is impossible for single-medium schools to accommodate another language so soon. “Where will the resources, the classrooms and staff come from? Schools and governing bodies most certainly cannot carry the added financial burden and the disruption this will cause halfway through the school year will undeniably have a negative impact on learners’ academic performance.”

Deacon says given the facts of the matter there are two possible explanations for the events: “One possibility is that the MEC is unaware of what is happening at an operational level in his Department, and that he has lost control of his officials. The other explanation is that there is a deliberate political game underway.”

“Under no circumstances can FEDSAS become embroiled in a political game while schools are being destroyed. According to the Schools Act, schools have the right to be single-medium schools, and FEDSAS will defend that right. Not only are mother-tongue education and the rights and functions of school governing bodies being threatened, but at grassroots level children are suffering in terms of the quality of the education they are receiving,” says Deacon.

(FEDSAS is a voluntary association of school governing bodies of public schools and supports quality education in these schools. More than 1800 public schools are already members of FEDSAS).

Statement issued by Dr Jaco Deacon, Deputy CEO: FEDSAS and Mr Paul Colditz, CEO: FEDSAS, May 20 2015