Laerskool Middelburg en ‘n ander v Departmentshoof: Mpumalanga Department van Onderwys en andere (2002) 4 All SA 745 (T)

Main Issue: Right to education and language policy

Findings: Applicant, an exclusively Afrikaans-medium institution, wanted to set aside a decision to declare the school a dual medium one and admit learners who were to be taught in English. Initially court highlighted that the capacity of other schools which offered the desired medium of instruction had to be considered before the status of a single medium institution could be changed. But the Court further reasoned that the parents wanted to place their children in this school because it had an excellent reputation and on the basis of the best interest of the child principle, it decided that the best course of action was to leave the learners in the school and order it to take the children and teach them in English.