The Minister of Basic Education, Ms Siviwe Gwarube, has published the guidelines for the implementation of the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Act. These guidelines partially remove the sting of the contentious aspects of the Act, but only for the time being.
The guidelines restrict the authority of the provincial Head of Department (HOD) to interfere with schools’ language and admission policies, but they do not fully address all concerns surrounding the Act.
Regarding language and admission, the guidelines reaffirm the principle that has been in place since 1996, i.e., that all rights enshrined in the Bill of Rights, or Chapter 2 of the South African Constitution, apply in this context.
Discrimination based on race, language, religion or sexual orientation remains prohibited.
Other aspects, namely the right to mother-tongue education, where practically feasible, as well as the provincial HOD’s final authority, have now been clarified.
A school’s admission policy, and the Department’s response to it, should reflect the linguistic demographics of the entire educational district. It must also take into account other schools in the district’s capacity to meet specific language needs. Thus, the HOD cannot arbitrarily impose the district’s overall demographic profile on every school.
In addition, there are explicit guidelines that an HOD has to follow when seeking to amend a school’s policy.
As long as these guidelines remain in effect, an HOD will not have the authority to suddenly intervene in a school’s affairs without thorough consultation and reasonable consideration.
While these guidelines currently apply to the formulation of norms and standards, which will provide even greater detail, they do not carry the same legal weight as an Act of Parliament. A future minister could publish new guidelines without following a parliamentary process.
The Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) welcomes the guidelines, which partially mitigate the most severe risks posed by the BELA Act. The party, however, remains cautious as the heat under the pot in which the frogs are being boiled has only been turned down ever so slightly. Ultimately, the pot is still on the stove.
The Freedom Front Plus remains fully committed to self-determination in education.
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