The party has once again called for the scrapping of the current 30% pass mark, proposing a minimum requirement of 50% in all subjects.
Build One South Africa (Bosa) has launched a new school complaints hotline as pressure mounts on the basic education system, just weeks into the 2026 academic year.
When schools opened on 14 January, the Gauteng Department of Education noted that it still had ongoing school placement backlog affecting less than 3 000 Grade 1 and Grade 8 pupils.
The party said it was “unjustifiable” that thousands of pupils across South Africa remained without school placements, while those already in classrooms continued to face serious challenges ranging from infrastructure failures to textbook shortages.
Hotline launched amid placement delays
Bosa announced on Tuesday the launch of its Schools Complaints Hotline, an email-based platform aimed at collecting reports from parents, students and teachers experiencing problems in schools.
“It is unjustifiable that two weeks into the 2026 academic year, there are still pupils across South Africa who have not been placed in a school,” the party said.
“These young people should be in classrooms today, but instead remain stuck in administrative backlogs and uncertainty, as the system falls short at the most basic level.”
Bosa said the hotline would give those affected by schooling challenges “a meaningful place to turn” when bureaucratic processes fail to respond.
The hotline can be accessed by emailing [email protected].
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From sanitation to textbooks
According to Bosa, the Schools Complaints Hotline will serve as “a vital tool” not only during the opening weeks of the school year, but throughout 2026.
“These issues include water and sanitation problems, textbook shortages, placement delays, and infrastructure challenges,” the party said.
“We encourage parents, teachers and students who have information regarding schools in their area to contact us.”
Bosa said all complaints received would be compiled and escalated directly to the minister of basic education, as well as parliament’s basic education portfolio committee, “for urgent attention and resolution”.
The party said the initiative was grounded in the belief that children should not have to wait weeks or months for basic schooling conditions to be met.
“We believe that every pupil deserves a conducive learning environment from day one,” Bosa said.
“By gathering firsthand feedback through the Schools Complaints Hotline, we aim to advocate for necessary improvements swiftly.”
ALSO READ: Bosa says SA’s ‘true’ matric pass rate much lower than 87.3%
Calls for sweeping education reform
The party again called for the scrapping of the current 30% pass mark, proposing a minimum 50% requirement across all subjects.
Bosa’s reform agenda also includes the creation of an independent education ombudsman, improved teacher salaries, reduced union influence, pupil incentive programmes, a stronger focus on primary education, a school voucher system and a nationwide audit of teacher skills.
“With an annual education budget exceeding R300 billion, it is imperative that resources are efficiently allocated to enhance educational quality,” the party said.
It added that overcrowded classrooms, failing infrastructure and concerns around teacher qualifications required “urgent corrective action”.
Bosa said it remained committed to advocating for “robust interventions” to repair the education system and ensure that every pupil has the opportunity to succeed.
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