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3 Austl. & N.Z. J.L. & Educ. 61 (1998)
A History of Educational Law in South Africa: An Introductory Treatment

handle is hein.journals/anzled3 and id is 183 raw text is: A History of Educational Law in South Africa: An Introductory Treatment Izak J. Oosthuizen Graduate School of Education, PUCHE, Potchefstroom, South Africa & Johann L. Beckmann Faculty of Education, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa Abstract Educational Law has come a long way in South Africa since the early 1970's. The early 1980's saw the dawning of Educational Law. During those years Educational Law was presented as a theme in support of certain applicable subjects at a few isolated tertiary institutions in South Africa. The 1980's witnessed the growth of Educational Law from a subject within the framework of Comparative Education to a well-recognised subject in graduate degrees for Educational Management and Administration. The 1980's also witnessed the publication of the first book on Educational Law: The Law of Education for the Teacher by Van Wyk. In the 1990's Educational Law exploded in South Africa when the first national and intemational conferences in Educational Law were held. These were followed by the establishment of the South African Association for Educational Law and Policy (SAELPA) and the Inter-university Centre for Educational Law and Educational Policy (CELP). Introduction In 1972 Potgieter found that Educational Law was not a well-known theme among the South African school principals. In his research for Die problem vau ver gelyking en evaluering in die pedagogiek, he drafted a list of 25 topics and his respondents (school principals) had to arrange them in order of importance and applicability in regard to their daily task fulfilment. After the responses had been processed and analysed, it became apparent that education law was the least important theme, as it ended up number 25 on the list. Among the reasons for this surprisingly low ranking given at that time to a field which has since leapt to prominence are the following: The absence of a bill with justiciable fundamental rights in the South African Constitution at the time. The fact that at that time educators had no access to fundamental labour rights but were employed in terms of service relationships. These left them in a rather weak position vis-a-vis their employers who were in a superior position, having decision-making power in all matters concerning educators' conditions and terms of service. This subordinate position of educators as employees was compounded by the fact that labour relations were governed largely by Administrative Law focusing on the legality of decisions and of actions. The legality of 1327-7634 Vol 3, No 2, 1998, pp. 61-73 Australia & New Zealand Journal of Law & Education 61

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