BUDGET BATTLE: Free State education department defends financial clampdown on schools, citing governance breakdowns

Following a last-minute decision to freeze school textbook budgets just days before a statutory deadline, the Free State Department of Education has strongly defended its centralised takeover, citing chronic administrative failures and unlawful photocopying by school administrators. However, the South African Democratic Teachers Union and Federation of Governing Bodies of South African Schools (Fedsas) have criticised the move as an unlawful policy of collective punishment, with Fedsas threatening legal action.

Original source: Daily Maverick