Over the last few weeks, racism and unfair discrimination in schools has reared its head once again. The most recent incidents have included the alleged racism by learners at Pretoria High School for Girls; alleged racially discriminatory policies at Jeppe High School for Girls, and alleged racism by learners at Pinelands High School in the Western Cape.

Though each of these incidents are still being assessed and investigated by the respective parties, including the SAHRC, the pilling number of incidents that involve unfair discrimination or racism over the years warrant some significant consideration of there being persistent systemic issues in schools.

After reaching the milestone of 30 years of democracy in 2024, many are astounded that racism and other forms of discrimination persists to this extent in South African schools. Though neither the general public, nor the Constitution, have prescribed a definitive timeframe to overcoming racism, there is a strong sentiment in public forums that this shouldn’t be a feature of our schools at this juncture of the democratic era.  
An aspirational Bill of Rights as contained in the Constitution, has one salient feature amongst others. It requires a process of change and transformation for society at large to fully espouse a human rights culture. When the Constitution aspires to build a society that is non-racist and non-sexist, it envisions that South Africa’s institutions, laws, and people will (eventually) function and interact in a manner that embraces diversity.
The Constitution and its provisions that prohibit unfair discrimination in Section 9, have led to the enactment of key laws such the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act (2000) and the South African Schools Act (1996), amongst others. In fact, the Schools Act, specifically recognises that the education system of the past was based on racial inequality and segregation. It further acknowledges the need to to build a new education system that is more equal, and combats racism and all forms of unfair discrimination, amongst others.
With all this in place, its clear that the enactment of laws and policy alone are struggling to adequately transformation and change school environments. Additional targeted interventions are still required to create a culture in schools that respects human rights.

Improving constitutional literacy is a central component of enabling this process. Surveys conducted by the Foundation for Human Rights for example have identified that 50% or less of people in South Africa have heard of the Constitution or Bill of Rights. The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC/Commission) has more recently worked with civil society organisations and government to develop a program of Constitutional Literacy in schools that is to be carried out in Life Orientation classes.
Accelerating universality in school codes of conduct and policy is increasingly urgent. The Commission has investigated codes of conduct and policies in several schools across the country in this respect. More recently, the Commission conducted an inquiry into excessive regulation of learners' appearances and school uniforms in educational institutions in the Eastern Cape. It found that school uniform and appearance policies infringed on pupils' dignity, including the regulation of hair length, enforcing gender-stereotypical uniforms, and treating appearance violations as disciplinary issues.
Furthermore, the SAHRC has also undertaken a project to develop a universal school code of conduct (COC) that is human rights compliant and can guide schools in developing and adapting their existing school codes of conduct. This universal school’s COC is a critical step towards ensuring the enforcement of non-discriminatory conduct in schools as it will force the behaviours of members of the school community to mirror non-discriminatory values even when they internally believe otherwise.
There seems to be some gaps in terms of encouraging or incentivising schools to transform and in holding them accountable when they do not. For example, there has not been much done to proactively audit whether schools, and teachers have taken the appropriate measures to ensure that they are human rights compliant, and that their environments actually embrace unity and diversity. It appears as if many historically colonial or formerly segregated schools remain reactive to racism and unfair discrimination and lack proactive measures to address racism and to ensure that their practises are inline with the prescripts of the Constitution. This is an area that the Commission believes could significantly contribute to reducing racism in schools.
In the next 10 years, some of the learners in High schools today will be in the workforce, and in another 15-20 years those same learners may be leaders in their respective industries. If school environments continue to enable racism undeterred, the country will continue to produce both perpetrators and increased victims of racism. This requires immediate national intervention including encouragement of efforts from all members of the society.
The SAHRC has been advocating for imperative dialogues in both our homes and in all the diverse communities of which we are a part. Fortunately, the concept of a national dialogue has been a buzzing phrase since the promulgation of the Government of National Unity (GNU), which reemphasises the SAHRC’s standing view on the need for open and honest dialoguing. These dialogues, be they national and/or in different social contexts that make up our society, must include children. Schools present the platform in which children can be best organised to safely get involved in the leadership of these dialogues on pressing social discord issues.
The SAHRC is right on the mark with its Social Harmony Through National Effort (SHiNE) initiative, and its newly established National Question & Anti-Racism Campaign (NQ&A) could have come at a better time to facilitate these necessary dialogues.
SHiNE promotes self-reflection, respectful dialoguing within and outside families, and sharing of stories to foster understanding; empathy; and respect over tolerance. The NQ&A aims to facilitate constructive dialogues on specific issues related to inclusive belongingness. NQ&A aims to promote open and honest conversations with specific focus on the root causes of the discrimination symptoms we face today.
Having experienced some victories and faced many challenges in the past 30 years of democracy, how do we reimagine South African becoming a country with nuanced inclusivity, equal belonging, and equitable share in the resourced of the country. South Africa is arguably entering the phase of becoming the best version of itself and the NQ&A will foster national discourse on what it is we are deciding to become and how are we to become.
The SAHRC is currently activating SHiNE clubs and NQ&A campaign focus groups in Technical Vocational Education and Training colleges (TVETs) through dialogues on the national question and antiracism through their eyes and prism of their lived experience. It is hoped that these activations will be taken to basic education schools next year.
Further, the SAHRC has a Child Rights Unit which has elected Child Rights Ambassadors (CRAs) in all nine provinces. The Child Rights Ambassadors initiative aims to, among others, capacitate children to lead conversations and strategies on national issues that concern them. It is hoped that these CRAs will play a significant role in the organisation and facilitation of dialogues on prevalent discrimination in schools.
Finally, the SAHRC has appointed a group of expert advisors on how to tackle issues of discrimination and on proactive anti-racism measures.

Commissioner Tshepo Madlingozi is a SAHRC Commissioner responsible for Anti-Racism, Equality, Justice & Education focal areas.
Allan Tumbo is the Senior Researcher for Equality at the SAHRC.
Sihle Booi is a Research Advisor on Anti-Racism, Equality, Justice & Education