Abstract
This article investigates and compares the different approaches towards the dress code of learners[1] in South Africa and the United States of America (US), as the US mainly base litigation concerning school dress code on their freedom of speech/expression clause, while similar South African court cases focus more on religious and cultural freedom.
 
 In South Africa, school principals and School Governing Bodies are in dire need of clear guidelines on how to respect and honour the constitutionally entrenched right to all of the different religions and cultures. The crisis of values in education arises from the disparity between the value system espoused by the school and the community, and that expressed in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, which guarantees learners' fundamental rights, including those of freedom of religion, culture, expression and human dignity. On the one hand, the South African Schools Act requires of School Governing Bodies to develop and implement a Code of Conduct for learners, and on the other, that they strictly adhere to the Constitution of the country when drawing up their dress codes. The right of a religious group to practise its religion or of a cultural group to respect and sustain its culture must be consistent with the provisions of the Bill of Rights (which is entrenched in the Constitution) and this implies that other rights may not infringe on the right to freedom of religion and culture.
 
 In the US, although there is no legislation that protects learners' freedom of religion and culture at schools, their First Amendment guides the way. Their Supreme Court respects the religious values of all citizens provided that they are manifested off public school premises. While we acknowledge the existence of religious and cultural diversity at South African schools, this paper focuses on the tension among and on the existence of different approaches towards the human rights of learners from different religious and cultural backgrounds in respect of dress codes.
 The terms learner/s and student/s are used interchangeably in the article, since South Africa uses the one and the US uses the other to indicate school-going persons.
Highlights
While the acceptance of the 1996 Constitution[1] paved the way for radical transformation in the constitutional history of South Africa,[2] the revolutionary political changes that the country has experienced since 1994 have given rise to far-reaching effects in various areas of life, not the least being that of the education dispensation.[3]
Educators and School Governing Bodies bearing in mind the diversity of South African communities and the vast differences between rural, township and urban schools - have to fulfil their functions as stipulated in the Schools Act.[18]
South African litigation appears to result in courts' insisting that schools follow an accommodating approach and/or be especially wary of unfair discrimination towards previously disadvantaged minority groups
Summary
While the acceptance of the 1996 Constitution[1] paved the way for radical transformation in the constitutional history of South Africa,[2] the revolutionary political changes that the country has experienced since 1994 have given rise to far-reaching effects in various areas of life, not the least being that of the education dispensation.[3]. The school principal's line of defence was that it was complicated to supervise organised learner discipline within a multi-cultural school environment, and that one culture should not be treated differently to the other twelve cultures at the school.[24] It is the opinion of the authors of this article that the courts should interpret (a) whether the limitations on the way learners dress to school are lawful rules that school officials may implement to maintain safe and orderly learning environments, or (b) purely violations of the rights learners have, such as their right to freedom of religion, culture and expression. Similar South African litigation appears to result in courts insisting that schools follow an accommodating approach and/or be especially wary of unfair discrimination towards previously disadvantaged minority groups Determining how these two approaches differ and how they have influenced current trends in state school learners' dress codes is the object of this article. The article concludes with a brief reflection on whether or not education officials should grant exemptions from learner dress codes that prohibit the wearing of distinctive religious garb at school
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