The DA, FF+ and ACDP in Parliament have vowed to challenge the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill in court. At the heart of the complaints made by the three parties is that the Bill in its current form, is trying to usurp the responsibilities of the parents in public schools. This, they say, is unconstitutional in a democratic system.
The BELA Bill will have wide-reaching consequences for parents, teachers and governing bodies. The DA and ACDP have both argued in the portfolio committee that the views expressed by the public during in public hearings were not included in the revised bill. They have expressed unhappiness with certain provisions. These include what they say are changes that will take away the powers of school governing bodies to determine language policies.
“It’s the SGBs that knows what is best for their communities in terms of making sure that the mother tongue education used in the schools serve that quality education for those children. It is proven world over that when you study with your tongue you get best quality outcomes in schools,” says DA member of Parliament Baxolile Nodada.
The three parties say they will take the law to court if that is what it takes.
“It is the obligation of the committee to uphold the constitutional principles of participatory democracy. This committee did not do that. We failed and because of that this bill will go for a court challenge,” says ACDP Member of Parliament Marie Sukers.
The Freedom Front Plus says it is very concerned about the draft changes in this envisaged piece of legislation.
“But we want to stress that we are not against the procedure. We are against the essence of the act and if we had to stop it with procedural mechanisms, we will do so and it’s a content that we are against it,” says FF+ member of Parliament Wynand Boshoff.
