Blind Sa, Equal Education Law Centre Take Gauteng Education To Court Over Special Needs Learners

Blind SA and the Equal Education Law Centre EELC are taking the Gauteng department of basic education to court over alleged human rights violations at the Filadelfia Secondary School where learners with special needs reported neglect, sexual harassment by educators and a shortage of teachers trained in braille and sign language.

The case, which will be heard in the North Gauteng high court in Pretoria on 26 May, comes after Blind SA made its first submission in November 2022.

The EELC and Blind SA call on government to regulate this area to ensure that there is an adequate legal framework supporting the needs and safety of learners living in special school hostels, said Anjuli Maistry, the senior attorney at EELC.

According to court documents seen by the Mail Guardian , Blind SA said it received complaints from parents and learners about the violations of learners rights at Filadelfia. Their experiences included violence at the hands of caretakers, sexual harassment by teachers, dilapidated infrastructure that left blind learners vulnerable and food quality that was not fit for human consumption.

Blind SA said it worked with parents and pleaded with the school to improve the conditions of the learners, adding that the Gauteng department of education failed to intervene.