A report released by the SA Human Rights Commission has painted a grim picture of the country’s basic education sector, highlighting entrenched inequality, failing infrastructure, and inconsistent access to quality learning.
The commission released the 2025 School Readiness Monitoring Report on Wednesday, following visits to 150 schools across all nine provinces earlier this year.
The report said the most pressing and widespread issue was the poor state of school infrastructure.
The commission said many schools continue to rely on unhygienic pit latrines, lack adequate fencing and operate from structures made of unsafe asbestos.
In April, the basic education minister, Siviwe Gwarube, said her department had successfully eradicated 96% of pit toilets identified in the 2018 audit under the sanitation appropriate for education initiative.
Gwarube had initially pledged to eradicate pit toilets in all schools by March.
But she said urgent measures were in place to complete facilities at the remaining 141 schools.
According to the report, over 10 schools in the Eastern Cape alone reported crumbling walls, broken windows, or outright unsafe buildings.
Hostel facilities at Byletts Combined School and St Matthew’s were described as “bad” and lacking any adult supervision or designated staff.
The St Matthew’s High School in Amathole West, Eastern Cape, was found to have no security, caretaker, or matron.
Retired staff posts have also not been filled.
In the North West, Debe and Uitschot primary schools were found to be without electricity.
The commission said Debe Primary had been promised toilets that were never delivered, forcing pupils to use unsafe facilities.
Urgent repairs were also needed at Uitschot Primary, which faced challenges with deteriorating toilets and mobile classrooms.
“Schools across Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, North West, and Free State also recorded sanitation infrastructure that is either too few in number, poorly maintained, or not age-appropriate, particularly for younger learners and learners with disabilities,” the report reads.
“While some schools in affluent urban areas, such as Rondebosch Boys’ High and Hoërskool Strand in the Western Cape, received all necessary materials, the vast majority — particularly in rural and peri-urban schools — reported textbook shortages, with many learners forced to share.
“The inclusion of undocumented learners was a consistent theme across all provinces. Schools in Gauteng, the Eastern Cape, and Limpopo demonstrated commendable commitment by admitting undocumented learners, including migrant and refugee children, yet highlighted that these admissions often take place without corresponding financial and administrative support from the state.”
Among the recommendations, the commission said there should be a national infrastructure audit and intervention plan to prioritise severely compromised schools.
It said schools should be placed on a repair and sanitation upgrade programme, with urgent action taken for those using pit latrines, operating without electricity, or built from asbestos materials.
The report further recommended that the basic education department initiate an emergency review of boarding school conditions.
It also called for a staffing strategy to fill all critical educator and support staff vacancies.
The report said the department should also formalise interdepartmental coordination mechanisms between basic education, social development and home affairs to address challenges affecting undocumented pupils.
This was because schools could not continue to bear the administrative and financial burdens of inclusion without structured support, it said.
The report also recommended that the department implement a national accountability and monitoring framework to compel both government departments and service providers to fulfil their obligations.
Sowetan