School infrastructure a human rights issue, says Equal Education
Non-governmental organisation and activist group Equal Education says great strides have been made in ensuring access to education but a lot more needs to be done.
South Africa marks Human Rights Day on Wednesday.
On this day in 1960, at least 69 people were killed and over 100 injured when apartheid police opened fire on unarmed protesters who were demonstrating against pass laws.
Equal Education's Ayesha Mweer says some gains have been made since the end of apartheid.
"Since the end of apartheid we've made a great number of gains in increasing access to education. We currently have near-universal access with more black learners going to school now than under apartheid and a huge increase in the proportion of matric passes for black students. Additionally, the majority of learners that perform well in school are girls and this is an encouraging shift that we are seeing in our education system.
"However what we are seeing is that the provision of school infrastructure has not kept up with the increased enrollment of learners in public schools. At Equal Education we see this as crucial for ensuring the full realisation for the right to education. We are currently at pains to get government to prioritise the provision of this."
Recently 5-year-old Lumko Mkhethwa died after falling into a pit latrine at a primary school in Bizana, in the Eastern Cape.
"A large part of Equal Education's work up to date has been to ensure the Department of Basic Education provides adequate infrastructure in schools in order that learners who attend public schools are able to do so in a safe way. School infrastructure is crucial to ensure that every learner learns in a dignified way and is able to learn in the most efficient way. If we don't have adequate school infrastructure, as we are seeing in many, many schools across the country still, we are never going to be able to achieve a dignified basic education," says Mweer.