

By Andrew Rens
Publisher: APC     16 May 2016

The right to education and the internet. Case study on the role of the internet in provision and accessibility of educational resources in South Africa

As part of our research project Connecting your rights: Economic, social and cultural rights (ESCRs) and the internet, we have produced a case study that focuses on the role of the internet in providing educational resources in South Africa, an example of a developing country with both a strong right to education and significant challenges in realising the right to education. What is the current situation? What are the links between the right to education and other rights? What are the demands from civil society and rights holders, and the possible nodes of engagement?

Andrew Rens, a scholar on the complex interactions of human rights, knowledge, and innovation, offers some conclusions, focusing on the case of South Africa, whose government is moving towards digitising classrooms and using the internet as the primary way of providing educational resources, but still faces challenges in extending internet access to all South Africans.


Read the case study here, and follow our findings on the connection between Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the internet on our project page.


This three-year project is funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).