There are many education organisations all over South Africa. This is a list of some that have been involved in important recent campaigns and cases to improve resources at schools.

Equal Education – www.equaleducation.org.za

Equal Education are “a movement of parents, teachers, students and community members fighting for equality and quality in the South African education system”. They take cases to court to force authorities into action. Click here and see short films about their powerful norms and standards campaign. http://www.equaleducation.org.za/campaigns/minimum-norms-and-standards

Section 27 – www.section27.org.za

One of this organisation’s key areas of activism is the right to basic education. They research, take on cases and teach about the right to vital resources. “We focus particularly on the prevention of sexual violence and corporal punishment, the provision of safe and hygienic sanitation facilities, the provision of learner teacher support materials, furniture and sufficient classrooms, and the timeous payment of sufficient public school funds.”

The Education Rights Project – www.erp.org.za

The ERP is part of the Wits University Education Policy Unit and aims to promote every learner’s right to free quality education in South Africa. One of their interests is sexual violence at schools, and they have published a booklet you can download called Sexual Violence in Schools: The Rights of Learners and Educators.

The Legal Resources Centre – www.lrc.org.za

The organisation has offices in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Grahamstown. One of its areas of work is to research and take cases to court to force the government “to honour its obligations to children”. They look at school feeding schemes, school transport, under-resourced schools, making sure poor or otherwise discriminated-against children receive their right to education, and promote suitable non-violent disciplinary practices in schools.

Department of Basic Education (DBE) – www.education.gov.za

The Department has a special online page for learners where you can access the Bill of Rights, The Children’s Act and the Bill of Responsibilities.

Sexual abuse: This week’s story The right thing to do included incidents of sexual abuse at school. Here is a link to the Resource page of our story Nowhere to Hide which concerned sexual abuse.

General rights: There are many organisations that are involved in the protection of human rights generally in South Africa. Click here to view these organisations’ contact details.