Religion in education in South Africa: was social justice served?

dc.creator	Johannes L van der Walt
dc.date	2011-01-01T00:00:00Z
dc.date.accessioned	2015-07-20T22:15:45Z
dc.date.available	2015-07-20T22:15:45Z
dc.identifier	0256-0100
dc.identifier	2076-3433
dc.identifier	https://doaj.org/article/ca3bbe5bf5d24d0ab00a97d1b2969af5
dc.identifier.uri	http://evidence.thinkportal.org/handle/123456789/17874
dc.description	The promulgation of South African policy regarding the place of religion in public education was delayed until 2003, after a lively debate. The National Policy on Religion in Education effectively banned confessional, sectarian religion frompublic schools, but allowed for the teaching of Religion Studies as an academic subject and for religious observances, on condition that these were offered in a fair and equitable manner. Given the nature of the debate around religion and education in South Africa,¹ it can be asked whether the state has served social justice through thisPolicy. A discussion of human rights, social justice, morality and the role of the state leads to the conclusion that although the state never actually mentioned the philosophical or moral driving forces behind the Policy, it is most likely that it applied tenets of secularism, value-plurality, pragmatic political expediency and modus Vivendi. This was probably the best route for the state to follow considering how, in the past, education suffered from the over-emphasis of divisive factors. Revised policy could arguably take cognisance of how actors on the ground dealt with this conundrum.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	Education Association of South Africa (EASA)
dc.relation	http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0256-01002011000300010
dc.relation	https://doaj.org/toc/0256-0100
dc.relation	https://doaj.org/toc/2076-3433
dc.source	South African Journal of Education, Vol 31, Iss 3, Pp 381-393 (2011)
dc.subject	human rights
dc.subject	morality
dc.subject	religion
dc.subject	religion/religious education
dc.subject	religion in education
dc.subject	social justice
dc.subject	South Africa
dc.subject	state
dc.subject	Education (General)
dc.subject	L7-991
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	DOAJ:Education
dc.subject	DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject	Education (General)
dc.subject	L7-991
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	DOAJ:Education
dc.subject	DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject	Education (General)
dc.subject	L7-991
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Education (General)
dc.subject	L7-991
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Education (General)
dc.subject	L7-991
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.title	Religion in education in South Africa: was social justice served?
dc.type	article