Textbooks are essential when there’s no culture of reading and teachers lack content knowledge.
Make no mistake: the autonomy of such institutions does not trump the Constitution.
Motshekga’s reported plans to make it easier to close schools could jeopardise pupils’ rights.
Expecting every pupil to receive a textbook isn’t prima-donna behaviour: universal access is vital.
A political commitment is needed to resolve the teacher shortage in many schools.
But debilitating education hurdles remain for many foreign children in legal limbo.
The recent Limpopo textbook judgment could have been more helpful on the question of relief for the violation of rights.
Have lessons from the 2012 textbook crisis led to reforms that will ensure it can’t recur?
With prompting from civil society, judges are reminding the state of its material obligations to schools and pupils.
Priority rescues must be planned for schools where pupils’ safety and health are now at risk.