This study examines the topic of the interaction of children’s rights, education rights and freedom of religion in South African schools from a legal perspective. It comprises of a discussion on the historical development of religion in South African schools; South Africa’s international obligations with regards to children’s rights, education rights and freedom of religion and the South African substantive law pertaining to children rights, education and freedom of religion as impacting on legal issues pertaining to religion in schools. The study utilises a desktop approach, which comprises of a wide range of legal and other literary sources, international instruments, statutes and case law on children’s rights, education rights and freedom of religion. Importantly, it highlights the integral connection between these aforementioned rights when dealing with issues pertaining to religion in schools. This thesis illustrates that much of the historical development of religion in schools took place without consideration of children’s rights, or more particularly, the best interests of the learners. Instead, (a particular brand of) religious beliefs were promoted in education above other religions and the well-being of school-children. Furthermore, despite the introduction of specific children’s rights into the Constitution, this thesis emphasises that the rights of children have still not been recognised sufficiently in education laws and policies. It is submitted that children’s rights have a paramount and practical role to play in matters pertaining to religion in South African schools. Consequently, it is recommended that children’s rights, more particularly the best interests of the child principle, should be expressly introduced into education legislation and policies. This will create legal obligations for school administrators and SGBs on the inclusion of children’s rights in religious exemption procedures. Furthermore, it is recommended that national guidelines on religious/cultural exemptions (which incorporate children’s rights) be developed which will set legal parameters for the handling of religious/cultural exemption procedures in schools. This thesis also argues against the interpretation that the right to establish private schools includes the right to require religious conformity from non-adherent learners by way of a complete waiver of their religious freedom. Despite the importance of respecting the right of religious communities to protect and preserve their faith in private schools, it is submitted that this right cannot be exercised without regard for the religious freedom, dignity and best interests of non-adherent children. As a result, it is submitted that the waiver of the freedom of religion of non-adherent children is not consistent with the values which South African society reveres and therefore cannot be enforced. This thesis suggests that there is a way for the rights of private schools and the rights of non-adherent children to co-exist in harmony through the application of the reasonable accommodation principle in private schools. Reasonable accommodation of different faiths teaches religious tolerance to leaners in private schools and ensures that they are prepared to grapple with the religious diversity that they will inevitably face outside of the school environment. It is submitted that the enforcement of reasonable accommodation in private schools is to the benefit of all learners in private schools and to South African society in general. Moreover, this study questions and analyses the state’s provision of compulsory religion education in public schools through the National Policy on Religion and Education. A theoretical distinction is made between religion education and religious instruction in the National Policy itself. Religious instruction refers to the teaching of specific religious beliefs. Religion education refers to the teaching about different religions and worldviews from an academic perspective. It is submitted that the National Policy is correct in removing religious instruction from public schools as this would not be in accordance with freedom of religion or equality rights of learners who are not of the majority faith. It is submitted further that, although the provision of compulsory religion education in public schools impacts upon the freedom of religion of learners and their parents, (if taught correctly) it is a reasonable and justifiable limitation on freedom of religion in that it pursues the legitimate state goal of nation-building through the teaching of religious tolerance and “celebrating diversity” in schools. In light of South Africa’s history of religious discrimination, it must be recognised that the current position (although not problem- free) is a significant step forward in the protection of minority religious rights in South African schools. Despite this, it is submitted that there are numerous problems with the implementation of the National Policy that impact upon the dignity, equality and other rights of the learners concerned. These problems cannot be ignored since they impact upon the daily lives of school children. However, many of these problems can be minimised through more effective teacher training in this subject area. Accordingly, this thesis recommends that the current position be maintained as an acceptable compromise between the two extremes of providing religious instruction in one faith and removing religion education from public schools altogether. However, it emphasises that the state has to make a concerted effort to improve teacher training in this subject area in order to ensure that the objectives of the National Policy are carried out as envisaged. Furthermore, this thesis finds that certain provisions of the National Policy contain not only educational goals, but spiritual goals. Also in some instances, it is difficult to determine whether the religion education curriculum borders on being religious or not. In accordance with freedom of religion, it is submitted that the line between religion education and religious instruction must be clearly drawn in law and in practice. Consequently, the state must reconsider the National Policy and the corresponding religion education curriculum to ensure that they are aligned with the objectives of nation-building in all respects, meaning that any provisions or learning outcomes which have purely spiritual goals- must be amended or removed.

Developing an identity with self-esteem and a sense of self-worth is a child’s fundamental right (Vandenbroek, 2001). To encourage identity formation children need to ask and answer questions such as: ‘Who am I?’, ‘Where do I belong?’ and ‘Is it ok to be who I am?’ A child’s identity is shaped largely by his/her experiences with regards to relationships and belonging within communities and familial structures. However, South Africa faces a host of problems, including poverty, violence, HIV/AIDS, all of which contribute to the breakdown of these familial and community structures. Utilising a participatory action framework, this research aims to provide insight into how children living in a disadvantaged community negotiate identity and belonging. This insight into children’s perceptions of identity and belonging is useful for identifying resources within the community which promote a positive sense of identity and belonging, and also to identify areas where support and intervention are required.

The purpose of the study was to examine the perceptions of learners and teachers on the alternatives to ‘Alternatives to Corporal Punishment’ (ATPC) in particular and discipline generally in the King William’s Town Education District in two high schools. The study ascended as a result of the decline of learner’s discipline in high schools. This study is located in the interpretive paradigm and adopted a qualitative research approach using questionnaires, interviews focus groups and field notes in the collection of data. The Data revealed that schools were using different strategies to maintain learner’s discipline such as Code of Conduct, Disciplinary hearing, Safety and Security Committee, Educators, Corporal Punishment, Alternative methods to Corporal Punishment and the role of parents. It further revealed that the Department of Education is not supportive in the maintenance of discipline in the schools under study in King William’s Town District. The conclusion that was arrived at was that all the stakeholders should agree upon and be acquainted with the Code of Conduct and rules that are guiding the schools. The study came up with the proposal that learners should know the consequences of transgressing the Code of Conduct. To address disciplinary problems, the study came up with the key recommendation that all stakeholders must have ownership and to work as a team in the implementation of those policies.

Children’s rights are a world wide clarion call – yet, when it comes to implementing it in practice, the hearts of everybody starts racing because suddenly the issue is not just academic, it’s personal. In practice it is evident that children’s voices are not being heard or taken into consideration – while adults are solely responsible for making decisions that affects the lives children have to live. Children continue to suffer and are being traumatised due to the fact they have to live a life decided by adults who presumed to know the best. The fact that there is no consistency when working with children, specifically during the legal process, has been experienced as a serious problem. Research was undertaken to rectify the situation. The hypothesis for the intended study was formulated as follows: A protocol that can be followed by professional role-players can ensure that children’s rights will be protected during a legal process. The key professional role-players involved with children during a legal process have been identified as social workers, commissioners of child welfare, lawyers, family advocates and judges. In the qualitative study, a semi-structured schedule was utilized as guide for the personal interviews with each of the respondents. From this data, a protocol was developed and evaluated after implementation in order to determine whether such a protocol will enable the professional role-player to protect the rights of children during a legal process. The quantitative results proofed that a protocol as a hands-on guideline, is a much needed tool for the professional role-player in practice. From the study it was concluded that the existence of a protocol will enable the professional role-player to protect children’s rights during a legal process. Important recommendations included the following: <li>Specific skill training of the professional role-players in working with children.</li> <li>The value of implementing a separate family court system, involving all the professional role-players.</li> <li>The different professional role-players should respect each other’s profession, their abilities and skills and perform as a team to the benefit of the children in the legal process. Working against each other is to work ego-centered in stead of child-centered.</li> / Thesis (DPhil (Social Work))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

Children’s rights are human rights, regardless their vulnerability and dependence on adults. However, the situation of children’s rights in Haiti has always been delicate and it became even more fragile in the aftermath of the 2010 Earthquake and the 2016 Hurricane Matthew. Within this paper, the sociology of disaster theory together with case study and legal analysis as methods aim at analysing the effects of the two natural disasters on Haitian children’s rights. The paper also seeks to understand whether any differences could be noticed between the outcomes of the two catastrophes as well as to analyse the international and national institutional response to the aforementioned disasters. It is concluded that the two natural disasters had an enormous impact on the most important rights of Haitian children. Not many differences could be noticed, between the two events, and regardless the aid provided by the international community, Haitian children’s rights are still neglected, as we speak.

"The problem of displacement remains formidable, especially in Africa. It is exacerbated by Afirca's continuous conflicts and bad policies that are taken and effected in the name of development. Women and children remain the worst victims of internal displacement. This is so because in real life, women and children are vulnerable. Thus adding on internal displacement is too much for them. There is still no international enforceable mechanism by which the protection of the rights of internally displaced persons (IDPs), and in particular women and children, can be ensured. This leaves such rights at the mercy of the states within which the internal displacement occurs. ... Chapter 2 will comprise of analysis of who an IDP is and the magnitude of the problem of internal displacement in Uganda and the DRC. This will also entail identification of the causes of internal displacement in both countries. Chapter 3 will identify and critically analyse the rights of women and children as IDPs. This analysis will focus on the conditions prevailing in Uganda and the DRC. Chapter 4 will come up with detailed and comprehensive recommendations as to what can be done to attain the acknowledgement, protection and enforcement of the rights of women and children that arise out of internal displacement. Chapter 5 will have a suitable conclusion to the study. It will show whether the findings of the study prove its hypotheses." -- Introduction. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2004. / Prepared under the supervision of Prof. Jean-Didier Boukongu and Dr. Atangcho Ndji Akonumbo at the Catholic University of Central Africa, Yaounde, Cameroon / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

"Chapter II will examine the right to family unity and reunification as provided by the various international and regional instruments. The rigt to family unity and reunification in regard to the concept of state sovereignty, definition of terms and concepts, the scope of application and generally the extent of humanitarian and human rights obligation of states under international law. The concept of family as it applies under these instruments and their regions of application will also be examined. Chapter III will examine state practice in this area generally, legislation relating to and affecting the implementation of the rights to family unity and reunification, case law jurisprudence (where applicable), administrative and procedural challenges and how these impact on the implementation of these rights. The jurisprudence of the European Commission and Court as well as the framework of the European Union, the United States and Canada (which are major asylum countries in North America) and the regime under the African human rights system will be discussed. Chapter IV will examine the framework of specialised agencies, particularly the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the United Nationas Office of the High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), in the implementation of these rights. The responsibility for realising family reunification for the unaccompanied refugee child rests on both the states and specialised agencies. This chapter will examine the various documents on the protection of the unaccompanied refugee child's rights to family unity and reunification by the UNHCR, ICRC and other specialized agencies and NGOs especially in the area of family tracing, unity and reunificaiton rights of the refugee child during the conflict. This chapter will also examine other alternatives to family reunification such as fostering, adoption and institutional care. The aims is to determine how successful these agencies have been in the realisation of their mandate as it related to the family rights of the unaccompanied refugee child. Chapter V will make recommendations on more effective ways for implementing the rights." -- Introduction. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2006. / Prepared under the supervision of Dr. Henry Ojambo at the Faculty of Law, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

"In Zimbabwe the sexual abuse and exploitation of the girl child remains high. Recently the state has acknowledged the problem of sexual abuse and exploitation of the girl child and has indicated the willingness to step up campaigns against it. This campaign, however, targets school children in primary and secondary schools. There has also been an increase of sexual abuse of children in schools by the teachers and other staff members. The family as an institution has facilitated child abuse and exploitation in Zimbabwe through cultural practices and customs as a survival tactic. Some commentators have directly linked the revival of these cultural practices to the economic crisis that has resulted in food shortages around the country. These traditional practices include the marriages of the child to older men in exchange for food or money known as kuzvarira, kuripa ngozi, or pledging a girl into marriage and virginity testing. Some of the practices are, however, not directly linked to the prevailing economic crisis, but are just practiced as a tradition like chiramu. These practices have become more common amongst the Shona, the largest tribe constituting at least 76% of the population, and predominantly patriarchal. Theorists of patriarchy have directed their attention to the subordinate status of women and found their explanation in the male need to dominate the female. Although Zimbabwe as a state has shown a commitment to protecting children against sexual abuse by enactment of laws criminalising involvement of the girl child in prostitution, incest and rape of girls, little has been done to ensure that forced and early marriages of the girl child are curtailed. Virginity testing is not criminalised and is also currently being practised in rural parts of the country on a wide scale. ... Chapter one introduces the problem of child sexual abuse and exploitation of the girl child as a universal problem and gives a structure of the study. Chapter two discusses the concept of a child, sexual abuse and exploitation as a human rights problem. It analyses the protection of children under international human rights law. Chapter three gives a broad overview of the relationship between culture and children's rights. The role of the family will also be discussed as articulated in the human rights instruments. Chapter four highlights and discusses the cultural practices that result in sexual abuse and exploitation of the girl child in Zimbabwe. The legal framework protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation and the shortcomings will be highlighted. The impact of such sexual abuse and exploitation on the overall development of the child will also be discussed. Chapter five makes recommendations by looking at the developments from other countries on the rights of the girl child and cultural practises that result in sexual abuse." -- Introduction. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2006. / Prepared under the supervision of Dr. B. Twinomugisha, Faculty of Law, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

"Despite the adoption and wide ratification of the CRC and ACRWC, the miseries identified and intended to be dealt with by the two instruments are still rampant in many parts of the globe. Tanzania, as will be clearly shown in chapter three of this study, is not an exception in this regard. ... Tanzania has ratified both the CRC and ACRWC without reservations. In relation to international law, Tanzania follows a dualist approach. Despite the fact that Tanzania has ratified the two instruments to date, it does not have a specific comprehensive law on children's rights. That notwithstanding, various laws have been enacted, other amended and several programs put in place to protect children from exploitation, and safeguarding their interests. However, these measures have not yielded any feasible results since their adoption. There are still cases of discrimination in respect of girls, children born out of wedlock, non-fulfilment of the principle of best intersts of the child, socio-economic difficulties threatening children's right to life, survival and development of the child; police brutality against street children, the increasing number of children deprived of a family environment, especially AIDS orphans, and an increase in the incidence of child prostitution, early marriages, and various cultural practices which are harmful to children. This study necessitates investigation of the mechanisms which could be adopted, to assist in the successful implementation of children's rights in Tanzania. ... This study, therefore, draws inspirations from the laws and practices on children's rights in Ghana and South Africa and explores the most effective mode of implementation that can ensure the translation of the noble intentions in the two instruments into genuine effective tools for enhancing the well-being of the children in Tanzania." -- Introduction. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2006. / Prepared under the supervision of Ms. Christine Dowuona-Hammond at the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana, Legon / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

This research focuses on the role that International Human Rights Law, policy and legislation should play in the protection of the rights of internally displaced children against child marriage. This thesis examines international treaties and domestic laws that purport to prohibit the practice of child marriage with particular attention to laws relating to the protection of internally displaced children (IDPs). / Mini Dissertation (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Law of the University of Pretoria, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Law (LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa). Prepared under the supervision of Dr Lana Baydas at the Department of Law, American University in Cairo, Egypt. 29 October 2007 / www.chr.up.ac.za / Centre for Human Rights / LLM