| dc.description.abstract | This article investigates and compares the different approaches towards the dress
code of learners1 in South Africa and the United States of America (US), as the US
mainly base litigation concerning school dress code on their freedom of
speech/expression clause, while similar South African court cases focus more on
religious and cultural freedom.
In South Africa, school principals and School Governing Bodies are in dire need of
clear guidelines on how to respect and honour the constitutionally entrenched right to
all of the different religions and cultures. The crisis of values in education arises from
the disparity between the value system espoused by the school and the community,
and that expressed in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, which
guarantees learners' fundamental rights, including those of freedom of religion,
culture, expression and human dignity. On the one hand, the South African Schools
Act requires of School Governing Bodies to develop and implement a Code of
Conduct for learners, and on the other, that they strictly adhere to the Constitution of
the country when drawing up their dress codes. The right of a religious group to
practise its religion or of a cultural group to respect and sustain its culture must be
consistent with the provisions of the Bill of Rights (which is entrenched in the Constitution) and this implies that other rights may not infringe on the right to
freedom of religion and culture.
In the US, although there is no legislation that protects learners' freedom of religion
and culture at schools, their First Amendment guides the way. Their Supreme Court
respects the religious values of all citizens provided that they are manifested off
public school premises. While we acknowledge the existence of religious and cultural
diversity at South African schools, this paper focuses on the tension among and on
the existence of different approaches towards the human rights of learners from
different religious and cultural backgrounds in respect of dress codes. | en_US |
