Equal Education opposes the continued exclusion of poor learners from well-resourced schools as a result of geographical Location
4 May 2016
On Thursday, 5 May 2016, the Constitutional Court will hear the matter of FEDSAS v Member of the Executive Council and Head of Department, Gauteng Department of Education(CCT 209/15). Equal Education has been admitted as amicus curiae (friend of the court). The matter concerns a challenge by the Federation of Governing Bodies for South African Schools (FEDSAS) against various aspects of the Gauteng Regulations for Admission of Learners to Public Schools (“the Regulations”).
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) unanimously dismissed the majority of FEDSAS’s arguments. However, FEDSAS, unhappy with the outcome of the SCA judgment, appealed to the Constitutional Court.
The battle over the Regulations follows a history of cases where school governing bodies of predominantly more well-resourced schools have fought to preserve control over admissions at schools. FEDSAS contends that the Regulations threaten to encroach on the powers of school governing bodies to control public school admissions.
As amicus curiae, EE believes, like the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE), that what is fundamentally at stake in this case is the need to ensure public school assets are not monopolised in service of the interest of only current learners and their parents. This is particularly so as there is deep inequality in the distribution of public school resources along racial lines. EE further argues that the legislation must be read in light of the desperate inequality persisting in Gauteng, and the need of the GDE to ensure that there is an equitable distribution of learners across the system.