ALERT! Big Changes Lie Ahead for South African Schools and Time is of the Essence
The proposed Basic Education Laws Amendment (“BELA”) Bill which is still open for comment by the public, intends to amend the South African Schools Act No. 84 of 1996 and the Employment of Educators Act No. 76 of 1898 so as to align the abovementioned legislation to give effect to the right to basic education as contained in section 29(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (“the Constitution”). To do this, the BELA Bill proposes various controversial changes to schools in South Africa. Although the vast majority of the proposed amendments set out in the BELA Bill have been objected to, a few are supported by education stakeholders and the public. A brief summary of the Bill and its proposed changes is set out hereunder.
Last week Friday, the 19 of January 2024, was the last day for the public and education stakeholders to comment on the Bill. However, various education stakeholders requested an extension to make additional comments to their submissions, thus commentary on the Bill has now been extended until the end of January 2024. When the first submissions were received, the Portfolio Committee revealed that from a sample of 500 submissions, 76% of same were against the Bill. Public hearings were also convened during November 2023, illustrating the same results as the written submissions. The Portfolio Committee on Basic Education did not manage to process all written submissions made on the Bill, however, through the submissions that were processed it was quite clear that there was a divide in feelings towards this Bill. The Portfolio Committee has also revealed that a vast majority of the submissions received rejected the proposed Bill in its entirety. The reason for such rejection, as indicated by the submitters, stems from an objection to the limitation/removal of rights of parents to be able to decide the manner in which their children should be educated, which is proposed by the Bill.
It is important to note, before diving into the proposed amendments, that the BELA Bill will affect public schools rather than independent/ private schools. The proposed amendments that received the most disapproval were proposals for the government heads of department to have the final say on admissions and control over important decisions; and allowing government heads of department control over the language policy. Currently, School Governing Bodies have powers to make decisions about admissions and language policies. Other notable proposed amendments are the criminalising of parents who do not ensure their child or children are in school (punishable with a fine and/or jail time up to a maximum of 12 months); the abolishing of corporal punishment and initiating practices; as well as making Grade R the compulsory starting age as opposed to Grade 1.
The proposed amendments as to who controls the language policy of schools seems to have generated the most cause for concern, as it is argued that this poses a threat to the quality of education that children will be receiving and is contradictory to the Constitutional right of children, to receive education in their mother tongue. Section 29(2) of the Constitution states that “everyone has the right to receive education in the official language or languages of his/her choice in public educational institutions where such education is reasonably practicable”.
As detailed above, the Bill has many contentious proposals and seem to have received more disproval than support from the public. Despite this, the BELA Bill has already passed its first legal obstacle, having been agreed to and adopted by the Portfolio Committee and is currently before the National Assembly for debate and consideration. However, this Bill is still open for public comments until Wednesday, 31 January 2024. With this date fast approaching there is still time, although limited, for public participation before these contentious changes to South African schools are implemented for the foreseeable future.
Written by Jade Baldwin
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