Realising the Right to Quality Education in South Africa; An African Human Right Appraisal

The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 emphasise the consideration of foreign law by a court, tribunal or forum when interpreting any right in the Bill of Rights (Constitution, 1996; sec 39). Section 39 provides government with the opportunity to consider foreign laws and apply them when there is a need and where applicable. This paper emphasizes the interpretation of the right to quality education by the regional instruments. The paper depicts that regional instruments aimed at promoting the realization of quality education are seminal and worth to be considered for the realization of quality education in South Africa. Likewise Mbazira posits that in order for the right to education to be fulfilled and realised, it is significant to consider, learning and adopting valuable lessons from foreign countries in order to develop and strengthen our countries educational systems (Mbazira, 2009).