By Michelle Pienaar
Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill
GEORGE NEWS – The Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill, or Bela Bill as it is commonly referred to, has caused waves in the schooling communities.
The controversy is still ongoing and currently the department is conducting public hearings in all the provinces to give people a chance to talk about the matter.
A public hearing will be held in George tomorrow, 26 May, from 14:00 to 18:00 at the Pacaltsdorp Community Hall, 47 Mission Street. Those who already submitted written comments will have the opportunity to articulate their views.
What is the Bela Bill?
The Bela Bill was first drafted in 2017, but the current version was introduced to Parliament last year. It 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 by all.
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.
Straight from a parent
Regarding Grade R as the proposed compulsory starting point for school going children, Glenhael Carolus, one of the parents George Herald approached for comment, said his concern is what will happen if parents can’t sent their children to school.
“I can appreciate that in poor communities the structural problem will be economical of nature. To prosecute a parent for not sending a child to school due to economic reasons is not going to make this bill effective. You can’t take a breadwinner away for six months to a year. Criminalisation is not going to fix the economic problem,” said Carolus.
He said there is a lot of focus on SGBs. “They play an important role in the running and affairs of a school.
“There is not a lot of appreciation given to SGBs. A lot of these people give their time and expertise on a no-cost basis. On the flip side, some SGB members might be benefitting from the school, and that can cause a problem. There are a lot of things that need to be unpacked.”
Carolus is not in favour of alcohol consumption at schools after hours. “How is this bill going to regulate that when people leave a function at a school, the children driving with the parents – will they get home safely?”
He said the question is more how the government is going to deal with issues such as overcrowded classrooms at schools. “This bill is going to enforce a lot of stuff, but how is it going to fix stuff?”
Some of the key amendments that the bill aims to make:
- Making Grade R the new compulsory school starting age, as opposed to Grade 1, as is currently the case.
- Compelling the registration of homeschooled learners.
- Criminalising parents who do not ensure their child or children are in school, with fines or jail time up to 12 months…
READ ARTICLE HERE… (georgeherald.com)
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