NCOP decides on amendments to Bela Bill

NCOP decides on amendments to Bela Bill

The National Council of Provinces Select Committee on Education and Technology has amended the Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Bill by removing the powers of the head of department to determine the language policy of a school.

In new amendments tabled on Tuesday, the committee has proposed that the School Governing Body (SGB) must have powers to decide the language policy of a public school.

Parliament’s legal adviser Phumelele Ngema said the proposal followed discussions in the committee.

Ngema stated Clause 5 of the Bill was one of the contentious provisions before the committee.

The changes have called for the SGBs to have powers to determine the language policy of a public school.

However, the HOD will have powers to decide if a school can have one or two languages.

This was clear in the new amendments on the Bill, said Ngema.

“It is still saying notwithstanding removing the provision of subsection 2, which says the governing body of a public school may, subject to subsection 7, determine the language policy of the school subject to the Constitution, this Act and any applicable provincial law provided the language policy of a public school must be limited to one or more of the official languages of the Republic as provided in section 61 of the Constitution,” said Ngema.

She said the HOD may direct a school to have more than one language.

The Select Committee met on Wednesday to finalise amendments to the Bela Bill

Ngema also clarified that the Bill clearly states that Grade R would be compulsory. This clarification came in response to questions from committee members regarding funding for Grade R.

Ngema said the Bill was dealing with the running of schools and not budgets allocated to schools.

“As I explained the processes that are followed as to how revenues are distributed and appropriated by Parliament in light of the existing legislation, if you read the Bill there is nothing to amend because the bill does speak about appropriation and funding. It is not a section 77 bill, it is a section 76 bill, which speaks to the practicalities of running the schools and not the funding of the schools.”

There would be no point for the committee to engage on the funding of Grade R when the bill was addressing issues of running schools in the country.

Going back to clause 5 of the Bill on the language policy of a school, Ngema said this matter was raised during the public hearings.

She said clause 5 of the Bill was one of the contentious clauses.

The SGBs would now have powers to decide on the language policy of schools.

“Instead of the head of department, the governing body of a public school when determining the language policy of a school must be satisfied that a public school that the policy or the amendment thereof takes into account the language needs in general of the broader community in the education district in which the public school is situated.”

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