Parliament urges immediate implementation of the Bela Act. Picture: Armand Hough / Independent Newspapers
PARLIAMENT is expecting the Department of Basic Education to implement the Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Act without any excuses.
This was the word from basic education portfolio committee chairperson Joy Maimela, when she was fielding questions from the media during the weekly committee cluster media briefing in Parliament on Thursday.
“We engaged the department on the state of readiness and they assured us that they are prepared,” Maimela said.
She noted that the Bela Act introduced significant reforms on key provisions that included compulsory Grade R, language and admission policy changes.
The new law grants the provincial education departments authority over school admission aimed to standardise processes and eliminate discriminatory practices in order to ensure equitable access to education for all learners.
Maimela told the media that there was an issue of admission in some of the schools.
“This is more prevalent in former Model C schools where we see a majority of certain members of community around the schools are unable to get access to those schools due to language policy. We believe this Act will intervene really in that instance,” she said.
“While the Act introduces measures to address long standing challenges, its success will largely depend on the effective implementation and collaboration of all stakeholders within the education sector,” she said.
Maimela said the portfolio committee would closely monitor the implementation of the newly introduced law.
She said there should be no confusion around the issue of required documents such as birth certificate to be produced by parents or guardians on admission of their children at schools.
“Despite a parent or a guardian not having the required documents, the school should admit the learner anyway. The principal must advise a parent to secure those documents,” she said.
Asked if the department would be prepared to implement the Bela Act especially the provision on Grade R and admission to schools, Maimela said they had engaged the department on the matter.
“This is the question we asked last year even when the president gave an extended time (on consultation on admission and language clauses). We asked the department: are you ready to implement the Act?
“The department assured that Grade R was already provided even before it was made compulsory. There were shortfalls in the qualification of Grade R teachers and the department assured they will implement a capacity building programme, where they provide support to Grade R teachers who don’t have qualifications. We said they need to enhance it.”
However, Maimela said the national department had only raised the issue of infrastructure in terms of classes as they have challenge of backlogs while the provincial department in the Western Cape raised major concern about budget, saying it would cost them an arm and leg.
Asked about the role they would play in the formulation of the Bela Act’s regulations, she said they would play oversight role.
“The department is going to engage with the committee on the process when they draft the regulations. The regulations don’t amend or change the Act. The regulations are a guideline on how to implement the provision so we are to monitor that process closely,” Maimela said.
She also took a swipe at Solidarity, AfriForum, and Solidarity Support Centre for Schools after they sent a letter of demand to President Cyril Ramaphosa and Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube asking further discussion on the controversial clauses to avoid litigation.
Maimela said the organisations utterances and objections on the two clauses bordered on racism, and they had demonstrated that they were concerned about the former Model C schools they regarded as theirs.
“We believe they are misguided in their objection of those clauses. Really we need to have an engagement with them that ‘it is not your schools. Those schools are public”.
Cape Times