Parents’ rights in education

THE Bela Bill is of grave concern to parents and grandparents because, if passed, it will make a major difference to our children’s education, conceding the responsibility of parents and school governing bodies to the state.

There are none better to make such decisions for children than their parents. We know our children, we raise them and we are well aware of what is best for them. A very disturbing possibility is the effect on home schooling. The state could invade and dictate what a teacher can teach, even in their own home, not to mention to force teachers to accept the state’s curriculum.

Instead of dealing with important issues to bring our country out of recession, the government chooses to interfere with education, including introducing the Comprehensive Sexuality Education syllabus, which undermines parental authority and can possibly do irreversible damage to our children.

It seems the government is at a loose end since it cannot deal with the multitude of developmental issues affecting our economy and has decided to target our children and their education.

I say, butt out and let parents perform their natural duties as guardians over their families.

We know family values are under attack and the government is quite happy to go along with this.

We cannot spank our children in love as a means of discipline, we cannot prepare our children in our own way regarding sex education and now this Bela Bill. Yet the state is not capable of replacing parental authority. Keeping the poor poor and destroying family values is a ploy. Parents and teachers need to stand up before it becomes worse. — Judy van Aardt, Vincent