Revisiting constitutional review over privatized schooling: the Pridwin case and the protection of constitutional right to education

Szentgáli-Tóth, Boldizsár Artúr and Ferencz, Orsolya Zita (2025) Revisiting constitutional review over privatized schooling: the Pridwin case and the protection of constitutional right to education. INTERSECTIONS: EAST EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIETY AND POLITICS, 11 (2). pp. 64-81. ISSN 2416-089X

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Abstract

Our contribution aims to discuss the latest insights of the constitutional case law on the rights of students in private education. For this purpose, the Pridwin judgment of the Constitutional Court of South Africa was chosen, since this decision entailed considerable global resound and invigorated the discussion on the constitutional framework of private schools. Moreover, the Pridwin judgment provided a proper distinction between the rights and interests of the four main actors: students; private school management; parents of students and state authorities. Based on this analysis, we recommend prioritizing the educational rights of students. However, these should be carefully balanced with the legitimate rights and interests of other relevant stakeholders including private school management, parents of students, and state authorities. Although the fact that this topic has rarely been discussed in Central Europe, it will be demonstrated that the rise of private schooling might result in seeking similar constitutional remedies against private school managements in this region. Therefore, it would be worthwhile to integrate Central-Europe into this strand of academic scholarship.

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