But what do the children want‚ the Centre for Child Law asks as violence erupts at Hoërskool Overvaal

17 January 2018 - 14:12 By Katharine Child
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The EFF on Wednesday protested at Hoërskool Overvaal in Vereeninging, which has been at the centre of a language row.
The EFF on Wednesday protested at Hoërskool Overvaal in Vereeninging, which has been at the centre of a language row.
Image: Neo Goba

As protests erupted outside Hoërskool Overvaal on Wednesday over the refusal to accept 55 English children‚ it needs to be asked: is it in kids' best interest to attend the school in the first place?

This is the essence of a question being asked by the Centre for Child Law following a similar case that took place in Fochville six years ago.

The Gauteng Department of Education placed 37 English pupils into Afrikaans Hoërskool Fochville in 2012. A court case ensued and then the parents and government reached a settlement. The department agreed to build a new English school in the area. Hoërskool Fochville, as part of its settlement, took in the 37 English pupils for five years.

But‚ the Centre for Child Law notes‚ it wasn’t always plain sailing for the pupils‚ who at times faced bullying and discrimination.

Two protesters were shot with rubber bullets outside the Hoërskool Overvaal in Vereeniging on Wednesday 17 January 2018 when the police tried to break up a crowd of about 200 people.

"They made the best of it‚" according to the centre’s deputy director and lawyer Karabo Ozah.

The centre interviewed them after they finished Matric in 2016 – and they described a "bumpy ride".

"Their day-to-day lives were not smooth sailing‚" said Ozah.

Now‚ with the issues and tensions at Overvall‚ Ozah has urged the department and the school to put the children's interests at the centre the fights for admission.

Ozah said: "Parents want the best for their children‚ but has anyone asked the children how they feel?"

In a repeat of the Fochville drama‚ Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi vowed to fight the Pretoria High Court order that found the department had acted unlawfully in trying to force the 55 English pupils into Hoërskool Overvaal.

Following the Friday court order‚ angry EFF-members and furious parents threatened to burn the Vereeniging school down. Protest action at the school on Wednesday also turned violent.

Were the court case outcome different and the 55 children pushed into Hoerskool Overvaal‚ Ozah wondered if children would excel at a school "where they are not wanted".

This was based on the Hoërskool Fochville example‚ where some of the interviewed English pupils wondered what they had "achieved" when they left school given the school had remained Afrikaans medium. They wondered what the purpose of the court battle was.

Ozah explained that the pupils thought: “We were made to suffer and then what?" South African law and the Constitution ensures that that the children's interests be taken into account when decisions are made about them. 

The battle for Overvaal Hoërskool is partly about a battle for admission into middle-class schools of which there is a shortage‚ said Professor at the Wits School of Education Brahm Fleish.

It is a nuanced and complicated fight and less just about language issues‚ he explained.

"One of the big drivers of opportunity [for poorer people] is how some of the working class has managed to access former Model C schools‚" said Fleish.

But the numbers of spaces for the poor are limited in these schools‚ he explained.

In rapidly expanding areas in Gauteng such as Midvaal‚ Randburg‚ Bryanston‚ Fourways‚ there are not enough middle-class schools and no new middle class schools have been built in years‚ he said.

Government has not built nearly enough schools in Gauteng‚ research from the Centre for Child Law also found.

Ozah explained: "Government must maximise the use of government schools. But it must also accept it has not built enough schools."

"When we need transformation‚ we also have to think about the pupils‚" warned Ozah. 

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