A rural school in Limpopo scored a legal victory against the province’s education department to register the school as an exam centre as the court has decided to intervene because the future of the learners is at stake.

The BBKS High School, situated at Ga-Phala Village near Burgersfort, has been embroiled in a longstanding battle with the Limpopo Department of Education. It eventually turned to the Limpopo Division of the High Court, sitting in Polokwane, to have the school registered as an exam centre.

The application invoked the right to basic education, of particularly grade 12 learners. The school wanted the court to declare that the school has met the requirements for registration as a grade 12 NSC examination centre.

The battle between the school and the department has been ongoing since early 2022, after an application for it to be registered as a grade 12 NSC registration centre was lodged. Because of the bureaucratic deadlock, more than three years later, the school was still not allowed to operate as an examination centre.

The school is registered as a non-profit organisation and it operates as a school or learning centre offering basic education to learners doing grades 8 to 12.In 2023, the department granted the school a provisional registration as a private school. It has been operating in that capacity since its registration.

The department, however, in a letter, told the school that it is not in a position to be registered as an accreditation centre as it does not have Umalusi accreditation. It was then directed to move its learners in the relevant grades [10-12] to other schools.

Prior to sending the letter to the school, the department had conducted a feasibility study, in which it was recommended that its registration as an examination centre be considered. Still, the department would not budge to register the school as an examination centre.

Umalusi, meanwhile, asked the school for the NSC examination centre number as it said it cannot finalise the accreditation process without this number. The department persisted in its refusal to grant the school the number. The school said that this left the learners in an invidious position.

“The learners’ rights to receive or access basic education are trampled by the ongoing issues. The challenges are within the remit of the department and Umalusi to resolve, yet the school is sent from ‘pillar to post’ about the situation,” the court was told.

Acting Judge MZ Makoti said the department ought to have provided the school with an examination centre number that is needed by Umalusi to finalise the accreditation process. “Its refusal to provide the number is unfathomable. It ignores the fact that it, and not any other institution, granted the school approval to start operating,” the judge said.

In  granting an order in favour of the school, the judge added that there are children who are already attending at the school whose educational progress might be adversely affected by the decision taken by the department. “Their futures are at stake. This calls for the court to intervene,” the judge said.

zelda.venter@inl.co.za

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