Increasingly there is interest in development studies and specifically in the field of education in taking up Amartya Sen's capability approach as a framework for theorizing, implementing and evaluating education policy as a matter of social justice. This paper sets out to contribute to the emerging debate and to show how the capability approach offers an assertive alternative discourse to dominant human capital ideas in education. It considers core ideas of capability and functioning, and the emphasis in Sen's approach on each person's freedom and opportunities to develop valued beings and doings. The article then shows more concretely how the ideas might be operationalized by producing a provisional, situated list of education capabilities, with specific attention to gender equity in contemporary South African schools. It closes by presenting and emphasizing the importance of public debate and discussion around the policy potential of the theoretical and empirical ideas raised.