Townships’ High School Learners’ Views on the Implementation of the Right to Education: A Social Justice Perspective

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights asserts that education is a fundamental human right for everyone. Education promotes equality, but this can only be possible in the absence of social injustices within school systems. Social justice in education entails challenging any inequalities that may exist in the education system. This study focused on examining South African township high school learners’ definition of their right to education and views on its implementation. Using a qualitative approach, 45 high school learners (26 female and 19 male) who were purposively sampled from two township public high schools participated in semi-structured, in-depth individual interviews. The study was grounded in the social constructivism paradigm and data were analysed thematically. The findings of this study showed several shortfalls in the implementation of the right to education in the two schools. Despite a few positive developments, learners generally felt dissatisfied with the implementation of their right to education. Based on these findings, this study recommends the need to monitor activities in public schools to ensure that the right to education is fully implemented, to promote social justice in schools. Keywords: public school, right to education, social justice, the Constitution of South Africa, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, township