1. The State and the right to basic education

Summary

This paper assesses the state's compliance with its constitutional duty to ensure that "everyone has a right to a basic education".

The purpose of the paper is two-fold. On the one hand it serves as an "issue paper" or briefing document. As such it sets out in some detail the nature of socio-economic rights enshrined in the Constitution's Bill of Rights; describes the state's constitutional obligations in terms of respecting, protecting, promoting and fulfilling these rights; and attempts to unpack the meaning, scope and content of basic education. The latter is necessary because, since the adoption of the Constitution in 1996, no court has been called upon to interpret basic education in a case directly involving the right to education.

On the other hand, the paper puts forward an argument, based on factual evidence and statistical data, that the state has failed to comply with its duty to provide basic education. It makes this case within the terms of reference offered by General Comment No 13 of the Committee on Economic, Cultural and Social Rights, which states that basic education must be "available, accessible, acceptable and adaptable".

Download full document (basics.doc)



2. Putting the ball in the Government’s court: the DA presents legislation to define "Basic Education"

The DA has today (6th July 2006) submitted a Private Member’s Bill that defines a ‘basic education’.

Currently there is no legal definition of what constitutes a basic education in South Africa. Without a definition it is impossible to determine the extent to which the state has complied with its Constitutional duty to provide a basic education or to hold it to account in this regard.

It is the DA’s hope that this bill will remedy the situation and allow parliament and civil society to properly monitor the standard of basic education and to evaluate government’s performance.

The bill is based on international best practice – in particular General Comment No 13 of the U N Committee on Economic, Cultural and Social Rights, which states that basic education should be:

• Available;
• Accessible;
• Acceptable; and
• Adaptable

The DA’s view is shared by the Human Rights Commission and it is on and around these four themes that the DA’s definition is based.

Section 29(1) of the Constitution guarantees the right to a basic education. However, unlike other socio-economic rights, it is not incumbent on the state simply to provide for the progressive realization of this right. Rather, the state has a duty to ensure that the right to basic education is being met immediately and on a permanent basis.

Download Private Member’s Bill (basic_pmb.doc)