Sibongile Mofokeng welcomes in the studio Deb Zelezniak, CEO of the Santa Shoebox Project, and they are discussing Rights on Paper, Reality in Crisis: SA’s Rural Children Left Behind on World Children’s Day. Many rural schools in South Africa face severe challenges, including inadequate infrastructure, lack of proper sanitation, limited teaching resources, and underqualified teachers. Poverty and unemployment in rural areas contribute to poor parental involvement and financial support, affecting learners’ educational outcomes. These schools often struggle with large class sizes, a lack of electricity, water, and internet access, which hampers effective teaching and learning. The ongoing inequalities create a significant gap between rural and urban education quality, making it difficult for rural children to compete academically and socially. Addressing these issues requires targeted government support, infrastructure development, teacher training, and community engagement to improve learning conditions and equity in rural education.