The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) welcomes President Cyril Ramaphosa’s assenting to the long delayed Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Act and commitment to its full implementation. We commend government led by the African National Congress for remaining steadfast in defence of this fundamental transformation law.
Whilst applauding President Ramaphosa’s directive to the implementation of the BELA Act in full, it is critical the Department of Basic Education move with speed to ensure the necessary regulations, policies, infrastructure and staffing are in place to enable its smooth rolling out. Treasury must provide the necessary resources to schools to guarantee learners’ hard-won constitutional rights to learning are enjoyed by all.
The BELA Act contains many common sense and long overdue progressive provisions that will ensure the rights of learners to dignity and protection. It is a tragedy that in the course of the public debate the progressive objectives of the Act were subjected to distortions, misinterpretations and confusion. Whilst democracies are noisy by nature, politicians and other key stakeholders should exercise some degree of caution and sobriety when engaging in such sensitive matters for so many South Africans, in particular the poor and historically excluded.
The BELA Act contains critical progressive and long overdue provisions, including:
- Establishing Grade R as a required part of schooling for all learners, laying a stronger foundation for learners entering Grade 1 and ultimately learners upon matriculation.
- Strengthening provisions requiring learners to attend school and holding parents accountable for their children’s attendance.
- Clear guidelines for school admission, dress code, diversity and inclusivity policies to prevent unfair discrimination, blatant racism and exclusion of learners.
- Clear guidelines as well checks and balances for school language of instruction policies to ensure learners’ needs, diversity and all South Africans’ linguistic rights are accommodated.
- Recognition of South African Sign Language as a language of instruction and learning in line with its elevation to an official language.
- Tightening rules forbidding drugs, alcohol and weapons from schools and empowering schools to search for and confiscate such items.
- Banning corporal punishment and initiation practices from schools.
- Centralised procurement of key materials, e.g. textbooks, to help save costs, reduce corruption and ensure timeous deliveries to schools.
- Making it easier for single parents to register their children at school when their ex-partners are absent.
- Measures to ensure financial accountability and prohibit officials from doing business with schools.
Whilst welcoming these progressive provisions, COSATU believes several provisions in the Act need to be reviewed by the 7th Parliament.
The Federation remains concerned about the Department of Basic Education’s over reliance on learner numbers as the criteria for closing or merging schools. This places learners in farming and remote rural areas who live far from schools at a serious disadvantage. Additional criteria need to be included, in particular the distance learners travel to school and the availability of learner transport.
COSATU urges the 7th Parliament to be bold and extend the compulsory school years from Grade 9 to 12. An excessively high number of learners exit schools at age 15 or Grade 9 as currently allowed. This is sending an army of youth into the economy without the necessary education, skills and qualifications needed to find work and to take care of the families. Learners should be required to remain in school until completing Grade 12 or in a TVET or vocational college. If we are to ensure young people can find work, grow the economy and create jobs, then we need to increase, not decrease the number of learners in schools and colleges.
Issued by COSATU
Matthew Parks (COSATU Parliamentary Coordinator)
Mobile: 082 785 0687
Email: matthew@cosatu.org.za