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The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union [NEHAWU] supports the South African Students Congress [SASCO] and Young Communist League of South Africa [YCLSA] Right to Learn Campaign.

The Right to Learn Campaign [RTLC] is about ensuring access and success to education for all students in particular those from the working class background. As NEHAWU, our point of departure in support for the campaign is the overarching vision of the Freedom Charter which amongst others states that “Education shall be free, compulsory, universal and equal for all children; Higher education and technical training shall be opened to all by means of state allowances and scholarships awarded on the basis of merit”.

As NEHAWU, we fully support the struggles waged by SASCO and YCLSA for young people to have access and success to higher education and to ensure that they settle in at all institutions of higher learning at the beginning of each academic year. Currently, the country is confronted with crisis of high levels of unemployment, poverty and inequality mostly affecting the working class youth. 

Education remains an essential instrument to respond to the needs and developmental agenda of our society and hence we rally behind the objectives of the RTLC which include amongst others assisting students with all problems relating to registration including access to important student support services and access to general information.  

Equally, the national union will mobilise other progressive forces to join the Education Front under the umbrella of the Left Popular Front to wage a campaign against the government’s neoliberal policy orientation which seen a persistently stagnant allocation of subsidies and student funding in the post-schooling system amidst rising student enrolments, demand for student housing, infrastructure and fee hikes which has undermined the developmental and transformational agenda of our society. 

Lastly, the union notes and welcomes the Judgement by the Gauteng High Court Division which ruled on the constitutional and legitimate NEC structure of SASCO. As NEHAWU, we look forward to work with the legitimate newly elected NEC of SASCO and National Committee of YCLSA to drive the agenda of transforming the post-schooling system.

Issued by NEHAWU Secretariat