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The DA will continue to be the voice of reason and advocate against the disempowerment of communities and schools during the clause-by-clause deliberations of the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Bill scheduled to occur this week in Parliament.

We have argued against various clauses in the draconian BELA Bill that seeks to centralise power in the hands of the ANC government. We believe that this Bill will be deployed against mother-tongue education schools by forcing them to change their admission and language policies.

The public participation process have also been marred in various instances, not least of which are questions regarding the processing of submissions which have not yet been satisfactorally answered.

While South African public schools are plagued by a myriad of problems, none of them are addressed in the proposed amendments. Not the lack of safe and sanitary infrastructure, overcrowded classrooms, nor the high dropout rates. Curriculum adjustments to allow for quality education and ensuring that learners have foundational literacy and numeracy skills are not addressed. The Bill also fails to address blended and online learning – vital tools to providing quality education, especially since the Covid-19 pandemic.

While reform is desperately needed in the basic education sector, the BELA Bill does nothing to address fundamental issues. The DA will not allow the future of learners to be tarnished by a Bill not fit for purpose.

Issued by Baxolile 'Bax' Nodada MP - DA Shadow Minister of Basic Education