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Parliament's portfolio committee on basic education has adopted the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill.
Committee Chairperson, Bongiwe Mbinqo-Gigaba, said on Tuesday that this brought the Bill, which was more than 20 years in the making, “in line with continuing the transformation agenda of the basic education sector”.
She said some of the proposals in the Bill include making Grade R the new compulsory school-starting age for school.
It also proposes penalties for parents who do not ensure that their children are in school and confirmation that corporal punishment is no longer allowed at schools with penalties for those found guilty of such offences.
Mbinqo-Gigaba said in terms of language policy, the amendment states that the language policy of a school must also take into consideration the language needs of the broader community.
“The contentious proposed amendment, regarding home education, was partially agreed to,” she said.
This amendment provided for the head of the department to, when considering an application, require a delegated official to conduct a pre-registration site visit.
Meanwhile, the Freedom Front Plus said the Education Portfolio Committee had objected to the Bill on several grounds, including that it overtook the powers of school governing bodies.
MP, Wynand Boschoff, said the Bill also ignored the constitutional guarantee of the right to self-determination.
“Procedural problems in the run-up to today's vote will be investigated and most probably be brought before the court. It is, however, important to point out that the primary objection to the Bill is not procedural in nature, but based on its content,” he said.
DA MP, Baxolile Nodada, said serious concerns were ignored and questions regarding the wording of clauses, the impact of clauses on schools and communities, and the practical feasibility of the planned centralisation remain unanswered.
"The BELA still disempowers school governing bodies (SGBs) from determining their own admission and language policies and places final authority in the hands of the Heads of Provincial Departments, making them both players and referees who could abuse this power to further destroy quality education," he said.
The lobby group Afriforum has already threatened court action, saying the language articles in the Bill were not aimed at improving education, but to promote political goals in the run-up to the national elections.
Spokesperson, Alana Bailey, said AfriForum has long since started preparing for legal action if the bill were to be passed and implemented after consideration by the National Assembly, the National Council of Provinces, and the President.
She said the bill also has many other flaws, including the financial unfeasibility of expanding compulsory preschool education, and measures that will negatively impact homeschooling, among others.”
Bailey said as the Bill still has to pass through all the Parliamentary processes, legal action cannot be undertaken yet, but she said the preparations continue.
