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Children’s Rights and Participation in School in South Africa

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Re-defining Children’s Participation in the Countries of the South

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Abstract

Children’s rights and participation in education, which have become key focus areas since South Africa’s transition to democracy, are explored in this chapter. First, a legal perspective highlights the key tenets from the South African Constitution that provide the foundation for children’s rights in education. The Constitution foregrounds human dignity, the achievement of equality, the advancement of human rights and freedoms, non-racialism and non-sexism. The study presents two cases in which the basic rights of children were considered, but their participation was absent. The cases illustrate possibilities to expand child participation in legal procedures within the ambit of the Constitution. Second, the chapter presents an educational perspective on South African children’s rights and participation by decoupling and recoupling access to and participation in education. It considers how school closures and national lockdown have amplified existing inequities and compounded the long-term effects of access to education in the Global South context. It highlights the importance of protecting a knowledge democracy and considers the unique strengths emerging from a Global South country during times of social and political disruption and transition. This includes robust utility of the law, heightened public awareness on quality education, advancement of a collective responsibility for education and a redefinition of ‘school’.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The chapter uses both ‘child’ and ‘student’, depending on the context of the discussion. The term ‘child’ is used predominantly for the legal perspective, and ‘student’ is used for the educational perspective.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Educational Psychology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

    Irma Eloff

  2. Department of Law, Akademia, Pretoria, South Africa

    Daniël J. Eloff

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  1. Irma Eloff
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  2. Daniël J. Eloff
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Correspondence to Irma Eloff .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. CICS-UP School of Social Sciences, University of Palermo, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Graciela Tonon

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Eloff, I., Eloff, D.J. (2022). Children’s Rights and Participation in School in South Africa. In: Tonon, G. (eds) Re-defining Children’s Participation in the Countries of the South. Kindheit – Bildung – Erziehung. Philosophische Perspektiven. J.B. Metzler, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-64167-5_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-64167-5_5

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  • Publisher Name: J.B. Metzler, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-64166-8

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