Basic education minister, Siviwe Gwarube. (Lefty Shivambu/Gallo)
South Africa’s new basic education minister, Siviwe Gwarube, has said she will adhere to her mandate and expeditiously implement “aspects” of the Basic Education Law Amendment Bill should President Cyril Ramaphosa sign it into law.
“The Bill is the brainchild of the department that I lead and so if the president signs the Bill then we have to get on with the business of governing and implementing it,” Gwarube told the Mail & Guardian.
Ramaphosa is considering the Bill, which has been subjected to minor adjustments after deliberations with stakeholders.
The Bill was tabled by Gwarube’s predecessor, Angie Motshekga, and seeks to amend the South African Schools Act of 1996 and the Employment of Educators Act of 1998.
When the Bill passed in the National Council of Provinces on 15 May, the Democratic Alliance (DA), of which Gwarube is a member, argued that it went to the desk of the president without following parliamentary protocols.
“The Bill hands extensive decision-making power to the heads of provincial basic education departments, diminishing the role of SGBs [school governing bodies] and local communities in determining language and admissions policies,” the DA’s representative on education, Baxolile Nodada, said at the time.
Gwarube told the M&G: “Of course, there are interested people now in the sector that maybe wish to oppose the Bill but my job now is a very different one. Now I have to make sure that I take aspects of it and implement it as quickly as possible should it be signed.”
“That is the role that I have as the minister of education. I can’t, when my department has crafted and tabled the Bill in parliament for deliberation, then run around and oppose the Bill.”
A key aspect of the Bill seeks to make grade R the compulsory school-starting grade and provides for penalties when parents fail to enrol their children.
Gwarube said this is an aspect of the Bill that she would “like to see implemented”.
The Bill also proposes measures to prevent the unnecessary disruption of schooling by protests or other causes, and to criminalise such actions. It will also introduce penalties for parents who keep their children out of school for extended periods.
The Bill addresses aspects of homeschooling, requiring parents to register their children with the department and specify the curriculum being used. It mandates independent assessments to monitor the children’s progress.
It also offers an expansive definition of corporal punishment to include “any acts which seek to belittle, humiliate, threaten, induce fear or ridicule the dignity and person of a learner”.
The Bill aims to revise the admission and language policies of schools by transferring decision-making authority from the school governing body to the head of department. This change was prompted by instances of discriminatory admission practices observed in some schools.
Gwarube said even though sections of the Bill have been met with “unhappiness from the sector” she believes “the president is well appraised by that and that he will apply his mind as the law dictates and he will sign the Bill or exercise his options”.