GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - Parents and interested parties who whish to stay informed about the latest developments in the Bela Bill (Basic Education Laws Amendment), can join a discussion on this controversial topic on Wednesday 28 February (18:00 to 20:00) at the George Civic Centre main hall in York Street.
Other sessions in the Southern Cape: 27 February, Piesang Valley Community Hall (Plettenberg Bay) and 29 February, Mossel Bay Town Hall.
Interested persons and organisations are encouraged to attend and participate in the public hearings and to submit written input on the Amendment Bill to the Standing Committee on Education for consideration.
Only input on the content of the Amendment Bill will be considered.
Submit input or requests to brief the Standing Committee on Education to Wasiema Hassen-Moosa, Procedural Officer, by e-mail (wasiema.hassenmoosa@wcpp.gov.za) or as voice notes and messages on WhatsApp (060 250 6165).
The deadline is on or before Thursday 4 April 2024.
Background
The Bela Bill is aimed at amending the South African Schools Act of 1996 and the Employment of Educators Act of 1998. The idea is to align them with the developments in education, but the bill has not been welcomed in the Western Cape.
"The Western Cape Government strongly opposes the Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Bill," said Minister David Maynier. He said the clauses on admissions and language policy in particular are irrational and unconstitutional.
"They seek to transfer power away from school governing bodies and thus from parents, threatening the South African Schools Act's (Sasa) principle of the democratisation of school governance and disempowering parents."
Once passed, the Bela Bill will provide provincial heads of education departments the power to make a final decision on a school's language and admissions policy. The role of school governing bodies will be significantly smaller.
For instance, a school's language policy will be determined by the members of the executive council (MEC) and not by the school governing body (SGB).
Other changes that have raised concern include the punishment for parents who fail to enrol their children for Grade R (12-month jail time is on the table); and the requirement that all homeschoolers must be registered.
Status quo
The Bela Bill is currently at the National Council of Provinces. The standing committee on education (WCPP) held a virtual meeting to discuss the bill on 2 February.
"Each province has to say whether they approve the bill or not, and then the nine provinces need to reach consensus - whether it needs to be referred back to the department, or whether the bill can go through to the president to undersign and be implemented," said Alana Bailey, AfriForum's head of cultural affairs.
Bailey stressed the fact that the Bela Bill currently contains two clauses that try to take away the SGBs' power, thus ensuring that they no longer have the final say over a school's admission requirements, admission policy and language policy.
Minister says 'no'
Minister David Maynier said such a material shift in the nature of our education system will not in any way improve access to education, and will not compensate for the failure of the national government to adequately finance school provision.
"We have serious concerns about the deficient public participation process that took place, which has rendered the process constitutionally invalid," said Maynier.
He said these clauses are highly impractical.
"For example, the Bill requires the head of department to consider and approve/reject every school’s admission and language policies within 60 days. In the Western Cape, that’s over 1 500 schools in 60 days, or having to entirely process the approval/rejection of both policies of 25 schools each day, seven days a week. This is physically impossible.
"We are currently taking legal advice in this regard, as this is a Bill that clearly needs to be withdrawn."
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