Amendments to Bela Bill is progress

THE Bela Bill battle is far from over.

In a new twist in the adoption of the controversial Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill, the National Council of Provinces Select Committee on Education and Technology this week amended proposed changes to the South African Schools Act.

In the amendments tabled on Wednesday, the committee handed authority back to School Governing Bodies (SGB) to decide on the language policy of public schools. However, the provincial heads of department (HOD) would still have powers to decide if a school can have one or two languages.

The bill had proposed transferring decision-making authority on language and admission policy from the SGBs to the HODs, in order to address “discriminatory admission practices”.

Critics of the proposal said the bill, which would see national government once again making rules on school language, could end up marginalising mother tongue education.

A key aspect addressed in the bill was the inclusion of Grade R as compulsory schooling under the South African Schools Act, to enable equitable access to education for all children.

The committee did not amend this proposal, despite criticism that the policy would cost the Department of Basic Education billions of rand to fund.

The bill also seeks to regulate home-schooling, requiring parents to register their home-schooled children with the department and specify the curriculum being used, which would be subject to independent assessments.

The bill aims to strengthen the accountability of SGBs regarding financial management, and reiterates the abolition of corporal punishment, expanding the definition to include non-physical forms of punishment.

Another contentious point was that the bill called for regulations to address teenage pregnancy in schools, focusing on ensuring learners’ access to education and providing guidance on managing such situations.

The biggest flaw of the bill has not been in its formulation, but in the public participation process. It has largely been rejected by parents, religious bodies, civil society, community leaders, home-schoolers and SGBs.

That the select committee has taken on board public comment, interrogated the proposals and made amendments is a step in the right direction. The bill is expected to be adopted by the NCOP council next month before it goes to the president.