Education and the Bill of Rights of South Africa

1206 Words3 Pages

Constitutional provisions that regulate classroom management

South Africa is a country of rich history due to the historical events that shaped it to what it is today – one of which was the Apartheid era. The apartheid era not only affected the standard of life of the people of the country, more especially the people of colour but, also the standard of education that was received by the youth of the marginalised. It was not until the dawn of democracy within the borders of South Africa that the masses of the country were introduced to the ways of a diversified and non-discriminatory state. To achieve this, the government of South Africa developed and implemented a constitution, with which they would introduce radical change that would ensure the protection of citizens from discrimination and inequality - as the constitution can be viewed as the judicial base of a country and a source of guidance for the country in the making of decisions that affect the masses of the country. It is this very book that the global community then uses to judge a country’s liberty just as it is with the South African constitution. In the constitution of South Africa, we find a list of laws that are put forward to each and every single citizen of the country to abide by – and located in the second chapter of the constitution is the bill of rights, which discusses the rights of each individual that lives within the borders of the country. The aim of this paper is to distinctively highlight the connection between education and the bill of rights; this paper will discuss only the human rights that have a direct impact on the quality of education and the educational environment, the omission of the other human right is due to the level in which they may a...

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...ess importance – though some of the human rights discussed in this paper can be viewed as being a barrier in the progression of education, there are ways to ensure that is not the case, such as the limitation clause which conditionally limits the rights to the extent that the right is annulled to enable a greater purpose to take place – an example would be how a child’s right to freedom can be withdrawn if for instance, the child did not want to attend school, the right would be withdrawn on the grounds that the child is still a minor therefore still in the care of his or her parents but more also because a child’s education is of outmost importance because it is through an education that the development of the child takes place – this being essential in order for the child to gain both the cognitive and life skills that they will later need in their lives as adults

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