Motshekga says she has discouraged Dept’s move to appeal Overvaal ruling
The High Court ruled that the school didn’t have space to admit 55 English-speaking pupils and that changing the school’s language policy was not lawful.
JOHANNESBURG - Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga says she has discouraged the Gauteng Education Department’s move to appeal the Hoërskool Overvaal High Court judgement.
The High Court ruled that the school didn’t have space to admit 55 English-speaking pupils and that changing the school’s language policy was not lawful.
The judgement was followed by multiple protests by political parties and community members.
#BasicEducationUpdates Motshekga says in terms of pupil admissions, the department is struggling every year because of different challenges including migration and development. HM pic.twitter.com/5MfgLkqGYI
— EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) January 28, 2018
WATCH: #HoerskoolOvervaal: ‘Die and go back to Holland’
Gauteng Education Mec Panyaza Lesufi says he believes Judge Prinsloo was biased in his judgment on Hoërskool Overvaal.
However, Motshekga says the judge’s ruling focused on issues of administration and that’s what everyone should focus on.
“He’s not raising the issue that English-speaking children can’t attend Afrikaans school or policy issues. The judge is raising administrative errors… let’s deal with them and see if we can address them.”
The Hoërskool Overvaal matter brought into question the relevance of the Afrikaans language in the education system, Motshekga says this is a well-developed language that needs to be preserved.
#BasicEducationUpdate In a bid to decolonize the education sector, the minister says they have discussed teacher training, language “much work needs to be done to bring parity of esteem of African languages with English and Afrikaans”. HM
— EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) January 28, 2018
