The Department of Basic Education (DBE) has invited members of the public to have their say on the National Policy for Determining School Calendars for Public Schools in South Africa.
Several proposed amendments to the national policy have been made by the DBE. These amendments could impact when school holidays take place, how many religious holidays learners may observe and where approved school calendars are published.
South Africa’s constitution provides that a minority religious group within a school community may not be disadvantaged or discriminated against in any way.
To give effect to this constitutional prescript, the school calendars policy states that “members of world views or religions that form a minority of learners at a school may be given permission to take two recognized religious days off from school”.
The proposed amendment would result in the word “two” being deleted from the wording of the policy. This would allow learners to take as many religious days as they need as long as this determination is made by the Head of the Department in the province.
Other additional policies is that deviation from the policy will be allowed in exceptional circumstances and that In the case of a pandemic or natural disaster, the Basic Education Subcommittee on School Calendar for Public Schools must urgently meet in response to this.
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One of the proposed amendments could see the week in which learners change. Currently, the fourth term of the school year must end during the second week of December. The amendment could result in the end of the school year ending in the first week of December.
The DBE also wants to remove the names of months when school holidays take place from the current policy.
Section 5.4.2 of the National Policy for Determining School Calendars for Public Schools in South Africa states “Holiday at end of first term (usually, in April; also referred to as the "Easter Holidays")”.
The DBE wants to remove “(usually, in April; also referred to as the "Easter Holidays")” from the policy. The removal of names of months will also apply to subsequent school holidays.
The department also wants to change the platform where an approved school calendar is published. Currently, the Minister publishes the approved calendar in the Government Gazette and newspapers.
The proposed amendment would see the word “newspapers” removed from the wording and the addition of Departmental websites and Social Media. They explained that this is more cost-effective than publishing an approached calendar in a newspaper.
