PARLIAMENT'S approval on the Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) has been met with mixed reactions from different political parties.
On Thursday, 26 October, the National Assembly approved the Bela Bill, which sparked public interest and input.
The bill has made provision that grade R will now be the new compulsory school-starting age and parents who fail to enroll their children for grade R will be formally penalised.
It further confirmed that corporal punishment is no longer allowed at school and that those found guilty of such offences must be penalised.
In terms of the language policy, which is the reason for the outcry from political parties, the bill provides that a school governing body (SGB) will now be required to submit the language policy of a public school and any amendment thereof to the head of department for approval.
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It further states that the language policy must also take into consideration the language needs of the broader community.
The DA and Freedom Front Plus disagreed with the passing of the bill and made their intentions known that they'll be heading to court to reverse the decision.
DA shadow minister of basic education, Baxolile Nodada, said they're preparing their own legal challenge to the Bela Bill, which they will fight all the way to the Constitutional Court.
“We can also announce that we're reaching out to all organisations that have indicated that they too will go to court to prevent school capture. Our aim is to coordinate and unite all of these various legal challenges into the biggest education court case South Africa has ever seen,” he said.
He said they will shortly send formal letters to all organisations that intend to challenge the Bela Bill in court, inviting them to pool resources and work together to mount the strongest possible court challenge.
FF Plus chief spokesman Wynand Boshoff said the material objection to the bill is that it violates the agreement of 1994 and exposes its flaws as well.
He said what education actually needs is a multiplicity of cultural authorities that have power over, among other things, education.
“Such authorities should not only manage education, but should also have a say in content, curricula and examinations. Then each school can decide under which authority it wants to subject itself,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ANC has expressed gratitude to those who voted with them to pass the bill.
ANC spokeswoman Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said: “The ANC welcomes the passing of Bela Bill. This development accords with the ANC’s vision of transforming our national education system to reflect the values of the Constitution and our democratic society.
“The bill eliminates the loophole that has been exploited by some conservative SGBs to exclude pupil based on language, which has been used as a proxy for racial exclusion,” she said.
