Parliament, Saturday, 10 June 2023 - The residents of the greater OR Tambo District Municipality welcomed the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill especially clause 2 which proposes mandatory attendance of children in Grade R. This view was expressed by the majority of residents during the first of three public hearings that were held at the Mthatha Town Hall in the Eastern Cape yesterday.
Those who held this view believed that it will be beneficial to both teachers and learners. They argued that learners will be properly and qualitatively grounded educationally and will ensure the attainment of goal 4 of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The mandatory attendance at Grade R will also translate in the appropriate recognition of the important role of Grade R teachers in the development of a child, and in the correction of their employment and remuneration.
Those who supported the Bill also emphasised the importance of good administration regarding financial affairs at schools. Some of them supported clause 34 which proposes the submission of quarterly income and expenditure reports of schools to ensure ethical and prudent management of school resources.
Some participants also highlighted that their support for the Bill was influenced by the prospect it promises to redress the imbalances that were created by the system of apartheid within the education system. They also supported a clause in the Bill which outlines a process to determine school’s language and admission policies. They argued that this clause is necessary because some School Governing Bodies (SGBs) used these policies to exclude learners on racial and language grounds.
Although the Bill was supported by the majority of participants in Umthatha, it was opposed by some participants, however, who argued that its main intention is to enable the Department of Education to usurp the power and authority of the SGBs to make language and admission policies. According to them, the SGBs are the only legitimate structures of governance at schools with authority to develop and adopt acceptable language and admission policies for schools.
The opponents of the Bill argued that the centralisation of procurement of Learning and Teaching Support Material, will open an opportunity for corruption within the procurement environment to take place and that can result in, among other things, delivery of substandard materials to schools.
The participants were unanimous in their rejection of clause 8 of the Bill which proposes legalisation of possession, consumption, or sale of liquor on school premises. They based their rejection on the grounds that South Africa is currently battling with the challenge of substance abuse and, according to them, legalising possession, consumption, or sale of alchohol at schools will inevitably exacerbate the problem.
The committee will today conduct public hearings in Queenstown and it reiterates its call to all individuals and organisations with interest on the Bill to come to participate in the public hearings by expressing their views on the Bill.
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Province |
Area |
Local Municipality |
Venue |
Date |
Time |
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Eastern Cape |
Queenstown |
Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality |
Thobi Kula Indoor Sports Centre, Queenstown |
Sat, 10 June 2023 |
12:00 – 16:00 |
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Eastern Cape |
New Brighton, Ibhayi |
Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality |
Nangoza Jebe Hall, New Brighton |
Sun, 11 June 2023 |
12:00 – 16:00 |
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ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON BASIC EDUCATION, MS BONGIWE MBINQO-GIGABA
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact the Committee’s Media Officer:
Name: Malatswa Molepo (Mr)
Parliamentary Communication Services
Tel: 021 403 8438
Cell: 081 512 7920
E-mail: mmolepo@parliament.gov.za
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