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Below is a brief submission you can copy and paste to make sure changes are made to the BELA Bill - the deadline for provincial submissions in KZN is 20 February. By pressing on dubeg@kznleg.gov.za your browser should open an email.
Instructions are in the square brackets. Do not leave these in the document you send.
[“TO” field:] dubeg@kznleg.gov.za
[INSERT IN SUBJECT LINE]: BASIC EDUCATION LAWS AMENDMENT BILL
ATTENTION: Ms G Dube
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the BELA Bill, currently before the Portfolio Committee on Education.
I am a concerned citizen [OR PROVIDE BRIEF DETAILS OF YOUR ORGANISATION]
[IF YOU HAVE WRITTEN BEFORE write "Kindly accept this supplementary submission"]
[MAKE SOME GENERAL COMMENTS ABOUT AN ISSUE THAT CONCERNS YOU OR MENTION ONE OF THE KZN HOT BUTTON ISSUES. SEE HERE]
Unfortunately, I have to reject this bill for the following reasons:
[REMOVE ANYTHING YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH BELOW AND ADD ANY ADDITIONAL POINTS YOU WANT TO MAKE - SEE THIS POST FOR MORE INFORMATION]
Closure of Rural Schools Clause 25 allows for the closure of small schools without reasons having to be given. This will have a disproportionate impact on rural schools. All schools should be subject to the same procedures around closure. In KZN it is estimated that 1005 Schools, 82677 learners, and 5153 educators could be impacted. I request that Clause 25 proposing the inclusion of Section 33(4)(a) be removed.
Online and Hybrid Education to be included. The KZN DoE is refusing to register learners for home education who are doing On-Line Schooling on the basis that it is “not approving home education linked to online schools.”. This has been pending the release of a “Framework” aimed at regulating online education, a framework promised in October 2022 and has not yet been released. Over 750 learners in KZN, with the number growing every day, are impacted by the refusal to register learners using online schools. The BELA Bill should include provisions for online and hybrid schooling. This was going to be included as the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education had supported its inclusion in the new version of the Bill.
Registration for Independent Micro-schools Independent micro-schools play a significant role in education in KZN. KZN has the third largest amount of these schools countrywide. While there are many schools throughout the province, the coastal and small towns in particular rely on these schools to provide quality and often individualised education. These schools, however, face closure at a moments notice by the KZN DoE. The BELA Bill should include provisions that make it possible for these schools to register.
Scrap out-of-date home school regulations KZN is one of two provinces that have out-of-date home school regulations. These regulations, still legally binding in KZN, conflict with the proposed BELA Bill and the Policy on Home Education, creating a complex situation for home schoolers. The MEC should repeal these regulations immediately. This action will simplify the legal framework and ensure proper education governance in KZN.
Put ECD back in the BELA Bill Like online and hybrid schooling the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education had asked for all of ECD from Grade 000 to Grade R to be included in the BELA Bill. But once again this was quietly dropped from the final version of the Bill. Most likely not to delay the Bill. ECD is vital to improving overall education in South Africa and BELA Bill needs to make provision for provinces to, by notice in the provincial gazette, to set out requirements for registration of independent ECDs and these requirements need to be agreed with the sector. Freedom of thought, conscience, and religion need to be protected by law and a clause added to the Bill that specifically allows for the use of curricula or programmes chosen by the ECD practitioner.The compulsory age for schooling should not be extended, for now, and this should rather be done in a later bill that focusses exclusively on ECD and that is agreed to after wide consultation with the sector and civil society. Tens of thousands of learners are not ready for Grade R and many parents do not want to send their children to Grade R and rather educate their child at home.
Furthermore, I support the submissions of the following groups:
[LIST THE SUBMISSIONS YOU SUPPORT AND DOWNLOAD FROM THE SUBMISSIONS REPOSITORY AND ATTACH THEM]
Sincerely yours,
[Name and surname]
[Email]
[Daytime telephone number]
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