The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) released its 2025 school readiness report at its head office on Wednesday.
The commission painted a worrying picture of the country’s basic education system, showing that South African schools have many problems.
Infrastructure and safety
The report says the state of school buildings is the biggest national problem.
In provinces like the Eastern Cape, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal, many schools are unsafe and unhygienic - with crumbling walls, broken windows, asbestos classrooms and pit toilets.
In the Eastern Cape, some schools such as Byletts Combined and St Matthews have dangerous and neglected hostel facilities, with no adult supervision or staff on site.
The commission referenced the shooting incident that took place at Byletts Combined in November last year, highlighting how unsafe some schools are.
Sanitation
The commission found that many schools, especially in Mpumalanga, the Northern Cape, the North West and the Free State, have too few toilets, poor maintenance and facilities not suitable for young children or learners with disabilities.
Some schools, such as Debe Primary in the Eastern Cape and Skietpan Primary in the North West, were promised new toilets but the upgrades never happened.
Shortage of learning materials
Many schools still don’t have enough textbooks and teaching materials. While rich, urban schools like Rondebosch Boys’ High and Hoërskool Strand in the Western Cape have everything they need, most rural and township schools do not.
Pupils in grades 8 and 9 in the North West, Gauteng and the Free State were affected; some schools hadn’t received their textbooks weeks into the term.
Undocumented learners
The report praises schools in Gauteng, the Eastern Cape and Limpopo for admitting undocumented children, including migrants and refugees. But it warns that these schools get no extra support or funding for these pupils, making it hard to sustain such inclusion.
Scholar transport
Transport remains a big problem, especially in the Eastern Cape, Limpopo and the North West.
Many buses are unroadworthy, some have expired licences, and in some cases, transport simply doesn’t show up. In Buffalo City in the Eastern Cape, grade 8 learners had no transport for the first week of school, which caused disruption to learning from day one.
Hostel conditions
Boarding facilities are in poor condition, especially in no-fee rural schools that don’t receive dedicated hostel funding.
Many hostels have no matrons, boarding masters or maintenance staff, leaving learners unsupervised and vulnerable.
The commission called out the department of basic education (DBE) to take urgent action, including:
- a national infrastructure audit and repair plan, prioritising unsafe schools with pit toilets or asbestos structures;
- an emergency review of boarding schools, with proper budgets and staff, within 60 days;
- a staffing strategy to fill teacher and principal vacancies;
- better co-ordination among education, social development and home affairs to support undocumented learners; and
- a national accountability framework to ensure service providers and departments deliver on sanitation, transport and infrastructure promises.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.