The Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill, commonly referred to as the Bela Bill, has been making waves for a while in the South African Education system, with much debate taking place.
Recently, on 16 August 2023, another meeting was to be held to conclude the draft report on the public hearings, and begin preparations for adopting the Bill into the South African Education system.
But due to disagreements from Opposition Parties as well as not enough members making an appearance, the meeting had to be adjourned as no votes could be taken; this has placed the BELA Bill on hold for now.
One major area of discussion that the BELA Bill has brought on, has been the possibility of making Grade R the official entry point for learners to begin school, instead of Grade One.
What Is The BELA Bill?
The Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Bill was introduced with the aim of amending several existing school laws to improve the quality of education in South Africa, but has received a considerable amount of backlash and debate.
The BELA bill was first drafted in 2017, and the current version came to Parliament last year. The aim is to make changes to the South African Schools Act of 1996 and the Employment of Educators Act of 1998.
Some of the new laws proposed are as follows:
- Grade R will be the new compulsory school starting age (age 5 turning 6), as opposed to Grade 1 (age 6 turning 7).
- Parents who do not ensure their child or children are in school, will begin receiving fines or jail time up to 12 months and making it a crime.
- Parents and learners will need to supply specified documentation when applying for school admission.
- School Governing Bodies (SGBs) will be held more accountable for disclosures of financial interests – including those related to their spouses and family members. The role of SGBs will be smaller and provincial heads of Education Departments will have the role of making a final decision on a school's language and admissions policy.
- Educators will be prohibited from conducting business with the State or being a director of public or private companies conducting business with the State
- Corporal punishment and initiation/hazing practices will also be abolished.
- Alcohol consumption will be allowed on school premises at after-hour events.
- Homeschooling will also be impacted.
Making Grade R Compulsory, Explained
The Bill has proposed making Grade R compulsory, essentially starting the entry into the education world from a younger age. Typically, learners begin their academic careers from Grade 1, in the year they turn seven. Previously, a learner could enter into Grade R at the minimum age of four-years-old and turn five or older by June 30th the following year.
However, a parent or caregiver can still choose to enroll their child into school at a younger age if they wish, despite the proposed changes to the starting age.
School attendance is now also becoming mandatory, meaning every South African child must be enrolled in a school to receive an education. With this, the Bill proposes that the original sentence for not enrolling a child/preventing a child from attending school is to be doubled from six months to twelve months, as well as potentially receiving a fine in addition to jail time.
Elijah Mhlanga, Spokesperson for the Department of Basic Education (DBE), previously stated that increasing the jail sentence of those preventing children from entering schools is important because "children must go to school. In terms of the Constitution, they have a right to education and that right must not be interfered with."
An advocacy body for quality and equality in education has raised some red flags surrounding some of the Bill's proposed changes.
We feel that this will not tackle some of the reasons why children are staying away from school, such as poverty; instead this amendment makes parents or caregivers vulnerable to criminal charges against them and will perpetuate the circumstances that prevent learners from attending school in the first place.
The advocacy body's spokesperson went on to point out how this change will predominantly have an impact on women who are often the primary caregivers in South Africa.
Changes To The School Entry Age Has Brought Mixed Emotions
DA's Baxolile Nodada, says the BELA Bill is a "dangerous bill that has been put on our table in Parliament", and "seeks to take away School Governing Body powers and give it to the hands of the State."
Nodada explains that taking away SGB power also takes away power from communities and parents who know what is best for their children, and "invades homeschooling".
He adds that the Bill is not addressing real issues that are present in the Education system, such as children falling into pit toilets, overcrowded classrooms, and poor quality teaching, amongst others.
It was very important to us to make sure that in today's Portfolio Committee meeting, the Portfolio actually adopts a report that is reflective of all the views of South Africans.
When the BELA Bill was in the beginning stages, it was made public for South Africans to comment and express their opinions on the laws proposed, which were then taken into consideration as the Bill progressed. But, Nodada says a significant number of responses were left out.
It [the Bill] only analysed about 26 000 submissions, and left out about 9500 submissions from the public. Our job and our duty is to be representative of the people, and when we consider the views of the people, we must consider all of them.
And that is precisely why today, we thought we need to raise these issues; we had also requested that the National Treasury come present to us, because the Bill says it wants to make Grade R compulsory.
So, Treasury needs to tell us if there's money to make that happen, so that we don't find our little children in overcrowded classrooms without a teacher in front of them, or without a meal in school, without budgeting for it."
South African Childcare Association CEO, Arno van der Merwe, says making the entry point into school earlier is a generally good idea.
Van der Merwe explains that there are three aspects of a child's development: the early learning portion (which is growth in fine motor skills, literacy and Maths), the physical growth aspect of a child (in terms of having proper nutrition and exercise), and lastly, a social and emotional function, that a child needs to learn to become a "domestically good, sound, healthy child."
The fact that Grade R might become compulsory may be a good idea and maybe a good thing, [but] it depends on what the mode of delivery will be. If the mode of delivery will be a teacher standing in a classroom and teaching the children, like in Grade One, Two or Three, that would not suffice; that would not give us the intention of, what I believe, of government is, [which] is to get the children to a level where they have certain aspects of development met.
Van der Merwe adds that the South African Childcare Association is of the belief that if Grade R does become compulsory, children should learn through play, explaining that research has indicated that learning through play helps to develop a child's problem-solving skills, boosts their creativity and helps to develop interpersonal social skills, which is a necessity for anyone.
Professor Mary Metcalfe from the University of Johannesburg (UJ), says that the controversy surrounding the Bela Bill, especially when it comes to the law of compulsory education in Grade R or Grade One, is strange as it has been in existence since the beginning.
Compulsory education, in my mind, is a pact between government and the community; society in general, to say that its important that our children go to school, and compulsory education - that's across many countries in the world its part of the sustainable development goals, and in Africa in particular.
Metcalfe adds that compulsory education has been present in South Africa's law, since the passing of the South African Schools Act in 1996; therefore it has "always been the responsibility of the parents to make sure their children go to school, and it's the responsibility of the State to make sure they provide places for children to go to school."
The consequence of parents not sending their children to school in the form fines or even possible jail time has also been there from the beginning, says Metcalfe.
Other proposed changes to the BELA Bill include adjustments to homeschooling, initiation practices, corporal punishment, absenteeism, governing body disclosures and business with the state.
