Hilde Kern v HOD: Western Cape Education Department and Four Others
On 11 April 2016, the EELC filed papers in the Western Cape High Court on behalf of Mrs Hilde Kern, asking the court to review and set aside the decision of the Western Cape Education Department to dismiss Mrs Kern’s appeal for a School Fee Exemption. The application centers on the failure by the Parel Vallei School Governing Body and the WCED to purposefully interpret the legislative framework governing school fee exemptions and its application to single parent households.
With the Saffer matter set to be heard in May 2016, this is a further case in which the WCED’s failure to hold errant school governing bodies to account that make it prohibitively difficult for parents in financial difficulty (especially those who cannot provide the financial information of both biological parents) to obtain school fee exemptions.
