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How Strategic Litigation Brought Much-Needed Improvements to School Infrastructure in South Africa

June 12, 2014
Social Mobilization and Strategic Litigation for Equal Education in South Africa (June 5, 2014)
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During apartheid, South Africa’s government deliberately stunted access to quality education for the country’s black majority and passed on a legacy of grossly unequal schools to the first democratic government. State schools could be built on lush campuses with state of the art classrooms, or could have no windows, desks, or toilets, be made of mud, and collapse in the rain. While the Africa National Congress government did much to equalize teacher pay and improve conditions in schools, the physical landscape of schooling in South Africa looks much the same today as it did 20 years ago.

A recent panel discussion explored how Equal Education and the Equal Education Law Center balanced the use of strategic litigation and social mobilization in their recent victory to secure legally binding norms and standards for school infrastructure in South Africa.

Listen to audio of the event above.

Watch the video referenced in the discussion.

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Discrimination

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