Edu taken to court
Equal Education (EE) and the school governing bodies of two Limpopo schools recently launched an urgent court application against the Department of Basic Education and provincial education departments, challenging the current failure to roll out the National Schools Nutrition Programme (NSNP) to all learners.
“We are also seeking a structural order requiring the national and provincial departments, within five days of the court order, to each provide a plan or programme to ensure that all qualifying learners receive their daily meal,” Tad Khosa, from the EE Law Centre told Polokwane Observer last week.
“It is imperative that the roleplayers continue to fulfill their constitutional obligation to deliver nutrition to all eligible learners. The constitutional rights of learners to basic nutrition, basic education and equality must be protected, even during the state of national disaster.”
This followed the promise of the department on 19 May when they committed to reinstating the nutrition programme to all eligible learners when schools reopened for Gr 7 and 12.
This commitment was confirmed on 26 May in a meeting with civil society stakeholders, but on 1 June, the department backtracked, with Minister Angie Motshekga saying that they only had “intentions” of reopening the programme.
“They offered no time-frames or plans, claiming they don’t have the capacity to roll out new programmes, despite the fact that the NSNP has been in operation since 1994, and has been widely lauded for its successes in combatting hunger,” Khosa said.
In earlier statements, Motshekga stated that provinces would be responsible for the development and implementation of programmes to ensure the feeding of all learners when schools reopened. Appropriate mechanisms, which took into account the need for hygiene and social distancing measures, would be worked out by the provinces. This could include, the department suggested, the delivery of food parcels or staggered opening times for meal collection.
EE and the SGBs have filed legal papers in the North Gauteng High Court, which argue that the failure of the department and provincial education departments to roll out the programme to all qualifying learners - or even to produce a plan or programme for doing so - is a regressive measure that violates learners’ rights to basic nutrition, basic education and equality.
The programme normally provides meals to over nine million learners every day, but was halted when schools closed on 18 March, jeopardising the food security of these learners and exacerbating the severe hardship experienced within their households. Several child rights and education justice organisations have repeatedly engaged with the DBE to reinstate the programme for all learners.
Khosa said EE is awaiting a court date, which is expected to be during the first week of July. Basic Education Spokesperson Elijah Mhlangu earlier this week said the department submitted responding affidavits on Monday.