It is not July and its not time for the Durban July but KZNer's are in the final straight with written submissions on the BELA Bill closing on 20 February 2024.
Officials of the KZN Department of Education reported on 13 February that over 4000 written submissions had been received. That is outstanding public participation. But if more people could make submissions it would help secure the future of education in KZN.
Here are 5 Hot Button Issues in KZN that you could write in about.
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. Measures must be added to ensure proper consultation with communities. In KZN it is estimated that 1005 Schools, 82677 learners, and 5153 educators could be impacted. Concerned about this issue? Read all about this here. [A short submission template on this issue coming soon.]
Refusal of registrations at Online schools The KZN DoE is refusing to register learners for home education who are doing On-Line/Virtual Schooling on the basis that it is “not approving home education linked to online schools.” pending the release of a “Framework” aimed at regulating online education. This framework was 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 Pestalozzi Trust is taking the MEC and the KZN DoE to court over this. More information here. BELA Bill should include provisions for online and hybrid schooling. In fact, it was going to do so. The Portfolio Committee on Basic Education had asked for online and hybrid schooling to be included in a new version of the Bill. When the Bill was finally approved nothing had happened. We will soon be releasing a template and submission guide that you can send to the KZN DoE on this issue.
Registration for Independent Micro-schools Independent micro-schools (also called cottage schools or tutor centres) 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. This can addressed by ensuring the BELA Bill includes provisions that make it possible for these schools to register. Own, teach or have a child at an independent micro-school? Watch the video here and read more here. A member of the public? Independent micro-schools need and would be very grateful for your support.
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. All homeschoolers in KZN should write in requesting that these regulations be repealed. This action will simplify the legal framework and ensure proper education governance in KZN. You can find an information fact sheet on the KZN homeschool regulations here.
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, 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 rather educating them informally at home. How this will be handled needs to resolved before the compulsory age for schooling is extended. You can find a submission template on this issue here.
If you haven't yet made a submission and don't want to make a specific submission on one of the hot button issues, you can make a general submission on all of these issues using a simple template here.
Already made a submission but want to make education in KZN better by saying something about these issues? You can make a supplementary submission using exactly the same template.
Now is the time to impact the future of education in your province and the country.
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