Court papers filed over textbooks

Independent Newspapers

Photo: Itumeleng English

Pretoria - Two Limpopo schools filed papers in the High Court in Pretoria on Monday over the basic education department's failure to deliver textbooks.

The application sought to compel the department to find out which Limpopo schools still had not received textbooks, rights group Section27 said.

The schools also wanted an undertaking that all textbooks would be delivered by the end of October.

The schools are represented by Section27 and the Centre for Applied Legal Studies.

In May, the high court ordered the department to deliver the textbooks by June 15. This was later extended, by mutual agreement, to June 27.

However, the schools had complained that they had received no books.

The application also sought an order for the department to develop a comprehensive catch up-plan for Grade 10s, to run until November next year.

The department should also be directed to deliver all textbooks for next year by January 9, Section27 said in a statement.

The case will be heard on September 27.

Section27 said the department's proposed catch-up plan did not adequately make up for teaching time lost through the late delivery of textbooks.

The organisation said it was awaiting the report of a presidential task team appointed to investigate the textbook problems in Limpopo.

“Section27 hopes that this report will be made public and that all of those officials found by the task team to be responsible for the textbook crisis will be held accountable.” - Sapa