ConCourt finds for children in parents' clash with school

The Constitutional Court has ruled that private (or independent) schools may no longer rely on contracts with parents as the basis for kicking children out of school without a fair hearing, notes a GroundUp report. The court said schools have a constitutional obligation to ensure the best interests of children are paramount, including their right to basic education. The case of a Grade Four and a Grade R learner at Johannesburg’s Pridwin Preparatory school has progressed through the legal system since 2016. The children were forced to leave the school following repeated incidents of bad behaviour by their parents. Both the High Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) found against the parents, saying the cancellation of the contract, which allowed for termination ‘for any reason’, was legal. While the Constitutional Court issued four judgments on the matter, all effectively came to the same conclusion. In the majority ruling, Judge Leona Theron said it could have been argued that the matter was ‘moot’ because the children were now enrolled at another school. But, she said, the precedents set by the High Court and the SCA had broader implications for the rights of learners at independent schools. ‘This is the first time this court has had the opportunity to squarely address this.’ According to a report in The Citizen, Theron found the school’s decision was unconstitutional ‘due to the failure to afford the parents an opportunity to be heard on the best interests of the boys’. ‘In addition, the decision was unconstitutional as absent a fair process, it was self-evidently and objectively not in the best interests of (the boys) and, moreover, in violation of (the school’s) obligation not to interfere with the boys’ right to basic education, in the absence of any appropriate justification,’ she said.

Judgment

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