The Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill aims to make a host of changes to schools in South Africa, including controversial proposals such as giving the government the final say over language policies at schools and allowing schools to sell alcohol outside of school hours.
PARENTS and residents of the greater John Taolo Gaetsewe District Municipality in the Northern Cape have pleaded with the National Assembly committee on basic education to reconsider one of the clauses of the Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Bill that outlines the process for the closure of small, non-viable schools.
The committee successfully held the second of three public hearings on the bill in the Northern Cape in Kuruman on Saturday.
The residents told the committee that small schools were the backbone of communities and that instead of merging them, the department must find a means of supporting and encouraging their continued existence.
There was also a view that the unintended consequence of the closure of small schools would be a rise in the drop-out rate.
Also, participants cautioned that through the closing of schools, the department was encouraging learners to utilise scholar transport which was, in most cases, unreliable and unsafe for young children and subjected them to longer travelling times to reach schools.
Similar to the hearings in Upington the previous day, the bill received mixed reviews with some participants supporting the bill and others against it.
Those who supported the bill asserted that one of the most important considerations they based their support on was the compulsory attendance of school from Grade R as it provided a necessary platform for the preparation of learners in the education system.
Also, some highlighted that there were areas in the district that did not have early childhood development (ECD) centres and the absence of those centres disadvantaged learners.
Those in support of the bill further highlighted that through the regulation of the home-schooling environment, the bill would ensure adherence to teaching standards and ensure that parents who home-schooled their children were adequately empowered and capacitated to render this service.
Meanwhile, those against the bill shared personal experiences of how through home-schooling they enjoyed an option that provided, among other things, personalised and flexible education that catered for individual learner needs.
There were views that independent assessment of home-schools proposed “undemocratic and unnecessary bureaucratic oversight” that would make home-schooling difficult and deny children access to the education system of their choice.
Furthermore, there was an assertion that the bill overlooked the benefits that the home-schooling system could provide.
Parents also raised concern that the bill sought to usurp the rights of parents to decide about their children.
Another concern raised was regarding the centralisation of the procurement of learner and teacher support materials (LTSM) as proposed in clause 16 of the bill.
The concerned parties said that some provincial Education departments were currently unable to procure LTSM and this would be an additional responsibility for provincial departments that lacked capacity to deliver quality material on time.
The committee will on Sunday conclude the Northern Cape leg of public consultations with a hearing in Frances Baard District Municipality at the Mayibuye Multipurpose Centre in Galeshewe.
