SECTION27 is a public interest law centre that seeks to achieve substantive equality and social justice in South Africa. Guided by the principles and values in the Constitution, SECTION27 uses law, advocacy, legal literacy, research and community mobilisation to achieve access to healthcare services and basic education. SECTION27 aims to achieve structural change and accountability to ensure the dignity and equality of everyone.

Legal literacy is an essential tool of rights-based struggles. Legal literacy seeks to empower people and communities without any formal legal training to know and understand the law and its impact, so that they can engage and apply the law in a manner that improves the quality of their lives. This is the purpose of the Basic Education Rights Handbook. It aims to empower communities, school governing bodies, principals, teachers and learners to understand education law and policy, and to know when learners’ rights have been violated and what steps are required to protect those rights.

This is our latest review of South Africa's health and basic education systems and the work we have been doing to improve access to these fundamental services.