28 March 2026
Statement: Equal Education Law Centre launches plain-language guide to the South African Schools Act
Today, the Equal Education Law Centre (EELC) is launching a comprehensive plain-language guide to the South African Schools Act (SASA). This resource is designed to make South Africa’s most important education law truly accessible to the learners, parents, teachers, and school communities it was written to protect.
The guide, titled A Guide to the South African Schools Act, is being released during Human Rights Month and launched at the Human Rights Festival at Constitution Hill, Johannesburg, currently taking place until 29 March. Physical copies will be distributed at the Festival at the Activism Row and will also be made freely available for download.
The launch comes at an important moment, as the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act ushers in a new era for South African schooling. With this guide, the EELC provides a clear and accessible tool to empower school communities and ensure that the rights enshrined in SASA can be fully understood and exercised.
The SASA guide is born directly out of the EELC’s daily work. At the EELC’s advice clinic, learners, parents, and educators regularly seek help with questions about school fees, admissions, discipline, pregnancy policies, school governing bodies, and more. Time and again, the EELC’s lawyers have observed that the law itself was the obstacle – dense, technical, and written in a language that kept it out of reach of the very people it was meant to serve.
“This guide is a step toward making the law belong to the people. The Schools Act touches every learner’s life every day. Our job is to make sure that it works for them – and that they know how to use it. Ours is to build the power of people.” Tshego Phala, Executive Director, Equal Education Law Centre
About the Guide
The guide follows the structure of the original SASA, using the same chapter and section numbering so that readers can move easily between the plain-language version and the original law. It includes side notes explaining legal terms, real-life examples, court cases that have shaped how SASA is interpreted and applied, along with a comprehensive index for quick reference.
Topics covered include school admissions and fees, learner’s rights and discipline, the role of school governing bodies, the rights of learners who are pregnant or parenting, language and religious policies, as well as how schools are funded and governed.
“This guide drew on expertise built across the EELC’s work – through litigation, through research, and through years of sitting with school communities who needed the law to make sense for them. Legal expertise tells you what the law means; daily practice tells you how it actually lands in people’s lives. We tried to make sure both are present on every page.” Katherine Sutherland, Head of Research and Advocacy, Equal Education Law Centre
A Critical Moment: Understanding the Law as it Changes
The launch of this guide comes at a pivotal moment in South African education law. The Basic Education Laws Amendment Act (BELA Act), signed into law in December 2024, introduces the most significant amendments to SASA in nearly three decades. Among other changes, the BELA Act strengthens provisions on compulsory schooling, school admissions, and the governance powers of the state over language and admissions policies at public schools.
As implementation of the BELA Act begins, it is more important than ever that school communities have a firm grasp of the existing legal framework and in particular what rights SASA has always guaranteed, how those rights are enforced, and how the amendments build on or change what came before. The EELC’s guide provides that foundation.
The SASA guide is part of the EELC’s broader commitment to ensuring that legal frameworks in education translate into real, usable knowledge for the communities most affected.
“We are at a turning point in South African education law, and turning points demand clarity. Legal change without legal literacy leaves the most vulnerable behind. This guide is our commitment to ensuring that every learner, parent, and educator can engage with the law that shapes their children’s education, so that the law works for them, not over them.” Tarryn Cooper-Bell, Senior Attorney, Equal Education Law Centre
Putting rights in the hands of young people
The timing of this launch is fitting, as the EELC will be launching this guide at the Human Rights Festival at Constitution Hill – right in the shadow of the Constitutional Court itself. It is a significant choice of place for us. The Constitutional Court is the ultimate guardian of the rights promised to every person in South Africa. That we are here, at its doorstep, placing a guide to education law in the hands of communities and young people, speaks to something we believe deeply: that education is not simply one right among many. It is the key that unlocks other rights, such as dignity, equality and self-determination. Every constitutional promise made to South Africa’s children depends, in part, on whether they can access a quality education.
This launch also coincides with the inaugural cohort of the EELC’s Education Justice Ambassadors Fellowship, made possible through the support of the Khulani Nathi Innovation Fund under the Trevor Noah Foundation. The Fellows receiving this guide this weekend are not just learning about the law – they are being equipped to hold it and own it.
Access to the Guide
The guide is available as a free download at https://tinyurl.com/eelc-sasa-guide. Physical copies are available at the EELC’s offices and will be distributed at the Human Rights Festival at Constitution Hill at EELC’s Activism Row stand. Requests for copies can also be made by e-mailing katherine@eelawcentre.org.za.
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This guide has been made possible through support from the European Union’s Enhancing Accountability programme. We believe that accountability real, meaningful accountability cannot exist without a community that understands the law. When people know their rights, they can claim them. When they understand the system, they can change it.
To arrange media interviews, contact:
Papama Mabotshwa | Media and Communications Intern | papama@eelawcentre.org.za or 062 520 1818
