School bill objections may be futile
One petition equals one stakeholder despite thousands of signatures – department
THE collection of tens of thousands of signatures petitioning against the proposed amendments to the Schools Act has been a futile exercise as, according to the Department of Education, one petition equates to just one stakeholder.
Basic Education Department spokesman Elijah Mhlanga said Front Nasionaal’s petition, which collected 76 967 signatures from as far afield as the US and New Zealand, amounted to a singular objection.
“If one stakeholder comes with 40 000 signatures in a petition, that remains a single stakeholder,” Mhlanga said.
“The process from our side involves having to consider input from a much broader stakeholder base.”
Trade union Solidarity submitted almost 100 000 objections in the form of written objections, e-mails and petitions.
However, these signatures will also count as a single submission stemming from a single petition.
Friday was the cut-off date for the public to submit written objections to the proposed Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill published last month.
The proposals will affect schools’ language policies, teacher appointments and pupil admissions, as well as essentially squash the powers of school governing bodies (SGBs), which will all be governed by the department.
In an attempt to put a stop to the proposed amendments, Front Nasionaal – a right-wing political party formed in late 2013 as a successor to the Federale Vryheidsparty – circulated a petition on November 2 on gopetition.com.
By midday yesterday, the petition had received almost 77 000 signatures, with more than 27 000 Facebook likes.
In a letter addressed to Basic Education director-general Hubert Mathanzima Mweli, Front Nasionaal spokesman Daniel Lotter said the right of parents to elect representatives and have an input in education was a constitutional right and should not be impaired.
Mhlanga said: “Petitions and protests are part of the public participation process which we have invited people to engage in. What we are looking for though is written comments in which people have applied their minds to what needs to be done – we don’t need objections, we need written input. Alternative solutions.”
In response to Mhlanga’s statement of “one petition, one stakeholder”, Lotter said: “That is highly surprising. And it seems to me that the excuse is the simplest way out for the department.
“Despite what he [Mhlanga] has said, the department can’t deny the fact that more than 70 000 supported the petition.
“Ignoring it doesn’t change the fact that people have taken a united stand . . . And not only people who are aligned to Front Nasionaal, but everyone. This petition represents a universal voice.”
Solidarity spokesman Francois Redelinghuys said: “On Friday, we submitted about 98 700 objections electronically.
“This followed a request to us by the department to submit the objections as one bulk submission, because their inbox couldn’t handle the influx of traffic.
“However, they informed us they would take into account the volume of signatures and opposition, which is why I am surprised to hear his [Mhlanga’s] response of one petition being one submission.”
Asked whether the department would drop the amendments in the face of strong opposition, Mhlanga said: “We don’t know if the objections are strong, we will know once we have assessed every submission.”
Paul Colditz, chief executive of the Federation of Governing Bodies of South African Schools (Fedsas) – which represents 2 100 SGBs nationally – said it had received objections from tens of thousands of concerned parents, staff and the public.
“The reaction to the amended bill was absolutely overwhelming,” he said.
“If the department thinks that one school’s submission counts as one objection, then they [officials] are clearly not applying their minds.”
Westering High School was among several schools which threw their weight behind the objections, circulating a petition through the Fedsas website platform.
Westering SGB chairman Jerry Vorges said: “We need to put our voice behind this and provide direction for the department.
“The department already fails to uphold several responsibilities to the schools.
“If it is given more power, we will end up going nowhere.”