PSC joins investigation into unplaced learners
THE Public Service Commission (PSC) has joined the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) in investigating why learners remain unplaced in the province, saying it directly affects the constitutional right of learners to education.
In a leaked document, PSC commissioner Leonard Goosen said his office had engaged with national officials to assess to what extent the PSC had previously done work regarding unplaced learners, nationally and provincially.
Goosen said their initial assessment was that the matter was an entirely new area of focus for the PSC.
He said he would approach the matter in two ways – to immediately engage with Education MEC Debbie Schäfer and the Western Cape education department (WCED).
“We will request information on the exact numbers of unplaced learners, the affected areas, the contingency plans in place, and how the WCED will ensure that learners have access to education without delay,” said Goosen.
He said this would be followed by a PSC inspection at identified district offices and an engagement with the relevant district directors and circuit managers to ascertain the impact “at the coal face”.
Goosen said the second step would be to investigate the strategic and operational planning elements that were highlighted by the ANC’s provincial spokesperson on education, Khalid Sayed; infrastructure delivery in affected areas; data intelligence and how that fed into planning and contingency planning and the budget; and use of current assets.
Schäfer said they would respond to the PSC, but it was not clear why another body wanted to investigate the issue, because they had already, last week, met the SAHRC on the same matter.
Schäfer said the same questions kept being asked with the expectation that the answers would change.
“We gave them the same answers we have given all along: we do not have the budget to cope with the increased demand for places,” said Schäfer.
The revelation of the PSC investigation plan follows Equal Education and the Equal Education Law Centre urging the Department of Basic Education (DBE) to carefully reconsider some of the shortcomings that would have a negative impact on the right to education.
The two groups made a submission on the draft school admissions policy.
The groups said the draft amended policy was silent on the obligation of Education MECs to ensure learners were placed at schools, and it failed to tackle the problems with the admission administration system.
DBE spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said the department had received more than 6 000 comments from a wide spectrum of stakeholders, and it was processing all the inputs.
“There is no way of knowing who proposed what at this stage. What the (two groups) have done is exactly what the department expected South Africans to do. We applaud them for their participation,” said Mhlanga.