South Africa: 'We have the right to remove school's governing body'

[Harold F. Schiffman]

'We have the right to remove governing body'

The education department had the right to withdraw the functions of an
Afrikaans school's governing body without warning or giving reasons if
that school unreasonably refused to admit English pupils. This was argued
on behalf of Education Minister Naledi Pandor in an urgent application on
Monday before a full bench of the Pretoria High Court. Pandor is seeking a
court order which will in effect force Horskool (High School) Ermelo to
become a parallel medium school. The Mpumalanga education department late
last month relieved the school's governing body of its duties, which
included language policy, and replaced it with a department-appointed
committee.

The committee decided the school had to admit English-speaking pupils and
educate them in their language of choice, but the school last week
obtained an urgent court order to suspend the new policy, pending a
substantive application to set aside the departments decision. Pandor
thereafter launched an urgent application not only to rescind that court
order, but also to be joined as a party in the review application, saying
she had a duty to protect the rights of about 113 pupils, who were refused
admission to the school because of its Afrikaans-only policy. The school
admitted 13 English-speaking pupils this year after its language policy
was forcibly changed. The department had already approved the appointment
of an extra teacher, but the school was still waiting for learning
material.

Counsel for the Minister, Advocate BR Tokota, argued that the school, with
its 500 plus pupils, was built to accommodate 1 200 pupils and had more
than enough space for English pupils, while other schools in the area did
not have any space available. This resulted in many pupils now having to
sit at home while the minister had a duty to see to it that they were
provided with quality education in the language of their choice. The right
to determine language policy has been withdrawn. The appointment of an
interim committee to make a decision was justified and correct and that
decision must stand until a court decides otherwise.

You can withdraw a governing bodys function without any notice and without
giving them a hearing if the matter is urgent, Tokota said. If people
wanted the right to entrench their language at a school, they could go to
private schools and try to see if they could do it there. Horskool Ermelo
was a government-funded public school, he added. Senior counsel for the
school, Johan du Toit, said it was not the schools argument that the
governing bodys rights could not be curtailed, but then it had to be done
legitimately. Schools are put under tremendous pressure through bad
planning by the department. Then schools are made out as the bullies when
they seek to protect their rights.

About 35 previously disadvantaged pupils, who elected to be educated in
Afrikaans, were admitted over time. Its got nothing to do with race, it's
language that determines the admission policy, he said. Du Toit said if
the ministers argument was correct, it meant that all public schools would
have to offer more than one language of education. He argued that the
school's language policy was perfectly in compliance with the
Constitution. It was essential for the stability of the school that pupils
were not thrown around in this manner, he said. Transvaal Judge President
Bernard Ngoepe and judges Willie Serriti and Natvarial Ranchod reserved
judgment. - Sapa

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=105&art_id=nw20070212195623170C189818

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