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Internet Access and the Right to Education in South Africa University of Chicago Law School Chicago Unbound Global Human Rights Clinic Law School Clinics 2020 Access Denied: Internet Access and the Right to Education in South Africa University of Chicago Law School - Global Human Rights Clinic UniversityofChicagoLawSchoolGlobalHumanRightsClinic@chicagounbound.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/ghrc Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation University of Chicago Law School - Global Human Rights Clinic, "Access Denied: Internet Access and the Right to Education in South Africa" (2020). Global Human Rights Clinic. 1. https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/ghrc/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law School Clinics at Chicago Unbound. It has been accepted for inclusion in Global Human Rights Clinic by an authorized administrator of Chicago Unbound. For more information, please contact [email protected]. access denied: internet access and the right to education in south africa THIS REPORT IS JOINTLY PUBLISHED BY: THE GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS CLINIC, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO LAW SCHOOL ALT ADVISORY ACACIA ECONOMICS MEDIA MONITORING AFRICA THE REPORT WAS WRITTEN BY NINO GURULI AND CLAUDIA FLORES (FACULTY AUTHORS) AND FAITH LAKEN, ANNA DUKE, AND JOHN HAVILAND (STUDENT AUTHORS) OF THE GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS CLINIC OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO LAW SCHOOL;1 AVANI SINGH, MICHAEL POWER AND TINA POWER OF ALT ADVISORY; DR RYAN HAWTHORNE AND JENNA ROBB OF ACACIA ECONOMICS; AND PHAKAMILE KHUMALO, AZOLA DAYILE AND WILLIAM BIRD OF MEDIA MONITORING AFRICA. THIS REPORT WAS PREPARED AND DESIGNED WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF ALT ADVISORY. THE COVER ARTWORK WAS PREPARED BY KWAZI NWANA. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. This means that you are free to share and adapt this work so long as you give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. Any such sharing or adaptation must be for non-commercial purposes and must be made available under the same “share alike” terms. Full licence terms can be found at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-ncsa/4.0/legalcode. ISBN # 978-1-7334730-7-1. Published in SEPTEMBER 2020 1 The Report represents the views and perspectives of the authors. This report does not represent an institutional position of the University of Chicago Law School. 2 / 53 access denied: internet access and the right to education in south africa TABLE OF CONTENTS // preface ................................................................................................................................................ 5 // introduction: the south african digital divide .................................................................................. 7 the impact of internet access in schools .......................................................................................... 8 demand and supply of information and communication technology skills ................................... 10 the current state of affairs ............................................................................................................... 10 policies related to access to the internet ........................................................................................ 11 methodology ..................................................................................................................................... 12 // human rights and internet access .................................................................................................... 13 access to the internet is critical to the right to education .............................................................. 13 best interests of the child ........................................................................................................ 13 the content of the right to basic education ........................................................................... 14 access to the internet as a component of a basic education ................................................ 15 international law guidance ......................................................................................................16 the right to equality and non-discrimination ................................................................................... 17 The impact of the digital divide in practice ............................................................................ 19 // barriers to implementation and effective access .......................................................................... 20 variable progress on current policies .............................................................................................. 20 south africa connect ................................................................................................................ 21 universal service and access obligations ............................................................................... 22 internet for all initiative .......................................................................................................... 22 a lack of coordination and inefficient implementation .................................................................. 23 poor infrastructure and inadequate facilities ................................................................................. 25 physical conditions ................................................................................................................. 25 electricity and infrastructure .................................................................................................. 26 supplies .................................................................................................................................... 27 schools lack private funds ............................................................................................................... 28 data costs ................................................................................................................................ 28 lack of security ........................................................................................................................ 29 insurance ................................................................................................................................. 29 lack of adequate training and IT support for teachers .................................................................. 30 pervasive misconceptions among teachers and parents ............................................................... 31 an overreliance on NGOs and corporate social responsibility ....................................................... 32 // the economics of universal internet access in schools: its feasibility .......................................... 34 // the way forward ............................................................................................................................... 40 // conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 43 + figures................................................................................................................................................ 45 + references ......................................................................................................................................... 48 3 / 53 access denied: internet access and the right to education in south africa LIST OF ACRONYMS ACHPR African Charter on Human and People’s Rights ACRWC African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child CERD Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination CESCR Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights CRC Convention on the Rights of the Child CRPD Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities CSIR Council for Scientific and Industrial Research DBE Department of Basic Education, formerly the Department of Education (DOE) DCDT Department of Communications and Digital Technologies DHE Department of Higher Education DTPS The Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services ICASA Independent Communications Authority of South Africa ICESCR International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ICT Electronic information and communications technology MMA Media Monitoring Africa SITA State Information Technology Agency STEM Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics UN United Nations UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund USAASA Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa USAF United Service and Access Fund USAO Universal Service and Access Obligations WEF World Economic Forum WSIS World Summit on the Information Society 4 / 53 access denied: internet access and the right to education in south africa PREFACE he COVID-19 global pandemic has led to the temporary closure of schools all across the world. Globally, it is estimated that more than 1 billion children are out of the classroom.1 In South Africa, it is estimated that nearly 12 million children have been affected by the T shutdown of schools during this unprecedented crisis.2 We are only beginning to touch the surface of understanding the short, medium and the long-term effects of COVID-19. However, amidst the prevailing uncertainties, the inherent importance, and critical reliance on the internet has emerged as a constant. It cannot be gainsaid that the current global health crisis has made it “clear that internet access is not only an essential public good
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