The Makhanda High Court has ruled that the Eastern Cape Department of Education’s failure to provide scholar transport to deserving learners is unlawful and unconstitutional.
It is estimated that 40 000 learners, mainly from rural areas, will be affected.
The court further rules that all new applications for the services must be decided by the end of January 2025.
The application was lodged by the Legal Resources Centre on behalf of the non-profit organization Khula Development Project.
Senior attorney at the Centre, Cameron McConnachie says this will go a long way in addressing the challenges in the scholar transport program.
“It validates the rights of learners in the Eastern Cape to access school and provide scholar transport where it’s necessary. It is clear that the court was convinced by the argument that we set out and the mountains of evidence that we put out detailing the horrendous conditions that children have to face in trying to get to school every day. So, we are pleased and we are also pleased that the court has been very specific in what it is asking the Department to do,” says McConnachie.
EC Scholar Transport Programme (Video from earlier in the year):
