Mpumalanga ACDP pickets against Basic Education Law Amendment Bill
According to the provincial ACDP, the bill was accepted without consideration to rejections or the proposals by political parties and other stakeholders in the education fraternity.
The Basic Education Law Amendment (Bela) Bill, which aims to amend the Schools Act and the Employment of Educators Act, has drawn concerns from the ACDP in Mbombela. Its members, supported by some parents, picketed outside the Mpumalanga Provincial Government on Thursday May 16.
The Mpumalanga ACDP’s chairperson, Joseph Temlett, said the Legislature and the majority of the ANC has accepted the Bela Bill without giving consideration to the rejection or the proposals made on significant clauses that will impact the people of Mpumalanga, especially homeschooling communities and parental rights.
“The bill permits the Department of Education to implement laws unto children that may impact the children negatively without consultation of the parents or guardians, such as the comprehensive sexual education from a young age that was implemented last year. The homeschooling community was not given a chance to table its concerns. The ACDP calls on the provincial government to not adopt this flawed bill and to send it back to National Parliament for reconsideration. We take a solutions-based approach and are willing to examine all options to represent the bill, in an acceptable form, to the house in the shortest possible time.”
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Temlett handed over a memorandum of concerns to the Mpumalanga Department of Education’s chief director of general education, Elvis Siwela.
On Wednesday May 15, the National Assembly’s portfolio committee on basic education concurred with and adopted the additional amendments made to the bill by its sister committee in the National Council of Provinces. It was passed by 223 votes to 78 in the National Assembly on Friday May 17. It is headed to the desk of President Cyril Ramaphosa to sign it off.
Diving into the Bela Bill, some of the amendments include making Grade R compulsory and criminalising parental negligence in school attendance. Parents who fail to ensure their children attend school face potential imprisonment as a consequence.
The amendment allows the head of departments of education to conduct site visits before registering home education, which enables this form of education to be regulated.
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The bill also proposes that school codes of conduct respect cultural and religious beliefs, including provisions for learners to seek exemptions from certain code requirements. It reaffirms the prohibition of corporal punishment in schools and proposes fines or imprisonment for perpetrators, and states that anyone disrupting school activities is liable to a maximum of 12 months’ imprisonment.
