Cape Town - Parents in the Cape Winelands have told the Department of Basic Education to go back to the drawing board and engage them on its proposed amendments to its Laws Amendment Bill.
This as the portfolio committee on basic education hosted public hearings on the bill in Wolseley at the weekend.
The committee noted that with the majority of parents rejecting the bill, an emphasis was put on children remaining the responsibility of their parents.
Among the key amendments to the bill include criminalising parents who do not ensure their children are in school; allowing schools to sell alcohol outside of school hours; holding school governing bodies more accountable for the disclosure of financial interests, including those related to spouses and family members; and prohibiting educators from conducting business with the state or being a director of public or private companies conducting business with the state.
“The residents of the Cape Winelands District Municipality have called for the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill (Bella Bill) to include a clear clause that will ensure freedom of curriculum and approach to protect the environment against what they describe as draconian regulations proposed by the bill.
“With a majority rejecting the bill especially clause 37, there was a strong emphasis made that children are the responsibility of the parents and not the state.
“They further argued that the bill currently seeks to usurp this responsibility thereby interfering with parents’ and children’s rights that are enshrined in the Constitution.
“Participants argued that the drafters of the Bill did not do enough research nor a socio-economic impact assessment on the impact of the bill on the education system.
“They told the department to go back to the drawing board, engage parents and learners within the environment and draft a correct clause for the sector,” the committee said.
Some parents supported certain aspects of the bill relating to uniforms and guidelines for School Governing Bodies (SGBs) elections, saying it would ensure fairness.
The committee noted that there were opposing views on the clause on compulsory schooling from Grade R, with some parents suggesting that the inclusion was a necessary step for early childhood development, while others noted that Grade R teachers would receive the benefits of mainstream teachers, which would improve their quality of life.
“Those who supported the bill argued that its intention is transformative in nature, especially the clause on language and admission policies.
“They argued that children coming from historically disadvantaged backgrounds were denied access to schools that are popularly referred to as ‘Model C’ schools by language and admission policies.
“They said that the office of the head of department, together with the SGB, must determine a school’s language and admissions policy.
“Some also argued for a clause to be inserted in the bill that will prevent contradictions between the head of department and SGB on language and admission policies.”
Cape Times