AbstractsLaw & Legal Studies

Lawful, reasonable and fair decision-making in disciplinary cases in secondary schools

by Lodewikus Stephanus Herselman




Institution: University of Pretoria
Department:
Year: 2015
Keywords: Reasonable; Fair; Lawful; Decision making; Administrative justice; Administrative law in education; Data-driven decision making; UCTD
Record ID: 1424964
Full text PDF: http://hdl.handle.net/2263/44144


Abstract

Section 16 A (2) (d), (e) and (f) of the South African Schools Act, Act 84 of 1996 assumes that a school principal has specialised knowledge in interpreting legislation, dealing with disciplinary matters pertaining to learners, educators and support staff, and making disciplinary decisions. The legal framework of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act, Act 3 of 2000, as well as section 33 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Act 108 of 1996, affects disciplinary decision making in education. The need to understand how legislation affects disciplinary decision making is important, because s ection 16 A of the South African Schools Act, Act 84 of 1996 assumes that education managers have the requisite knowledge and understanding of the law when dealing with disciplinary decision making. Disciplinary decisions taken by education managers fall in the domain of administrative law. The Promotion of Administrative Justice Act, Act 3 of 2000, forms the foundation for administrative action that is lawful, reasonable and fair. Since this Act is relatively new, and education managers have a lack of education law knowledge in general, it can be argued that principals might struggle to take disciplinary decisions that are lawful, reasonable and fair. Thus, there is a need to answer the following question: What are the legal requirements that should be considered in taking disciplinary decisions that are lawful, reasonable and fair and how can these disciplinary decisions be made more effectively? The purpose of the study was to understand the context and content of Section 33 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Act 108 of 1996, the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act, Act 3 of 2000, and Section 16A of the Schools Act , Act 84 of 1996 and how they would positively influence disciplinary decision making in South African education. The main research question was: What are the legal requirements that should be considered in taking disciplinary decisions that are lawful, reasonable and fair and how can these disciplinary decisions be made more effectively? Chapter 2 answered the research question of which decision-making processes could assist the education manager to take disciplinary decisions that are lawful, reasonable and fair. It was established that principals make frequent use of the rational model for decision making. However, the more comprehensive data-driven decision-making model was proposed. This not only focuses on a single disciplinary decision, but on the cause and trends of all transgressions that exist in a school. This model enables a principal to draw up a plan of action to deal with the cause of the problem. After analysing the applicable legal framework, the concepts of lawful, reasonable, and fair were defined and interpreted in Chapter 3. An administrative action is lawful when an administrator is duly authorised by law to exercise power. Reasonableness has two elements, namely rationality and proportionality. Rationality means that evidence and information should…