“Education is the most powerful weapon to change the world,” said Nelson Mandela. On World Teachers’ Day, 5 October, I ask myself how many South Africans identify with Madiba’s words. Because, 26 years after attaining democracy, our education system is still constrained by basic shortcomings which prevent effective teaching and learning. On top of that, the pandemic has worsened the situation by revealing the inequities between schools.

In the midst of this, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) tabled the proposed Basic Education Laws Amendments Act (Bela) earlier this year for comment. According to the Constitution, a new South Africa was born from the quest to heal the divisions of the past and create a society based on democratic values to offer a better life to all citizens of the country. In my view, this is exactly what the new bill on Basic Education has as its purpose and I will illustrate this with a few examples.

Early child development

The absence of preschool education (ECD) in most of our schools has been problematic for decades. Until now this function has been the responsibility of the Department of Social Development and it was only moved to the DBE recently. In terms of the proposed legislation, Grade R will become compulsory for all children, which is a step in the right direction. It will make life much easier for foundation phase teachers.

According to teachers it sometimes takes a year to prepare children for school and the curriculum such as learning to read and write. It will however require government to speed up the provision of Grade R resources and classrooms.

The new legislation also recognises that schools are the breeding ground of new talent and creates opportunities for the establishment of schools which specialise in sport and creative arts. The lack of facilities is no longer a stumbling block as the new bill makes provision for the equitable use of facilities for school-related activities without a fee being recovered from poor schools. In its turn, the DBE undertakes to supply the learning and teaching material timeously.

Teacher strikes

I have always been opposed to any interruption of the school programme and welcome the new legislation which makes provision for the prosecution of anyone preventing compulsory school attendance. Public schools are a national asset which should be of service to all our children, irrespective of race, religion, gender, language or economic situation.

In order to serve the best interests of the child, public schools’ code of conduct must take into account diverse cultural and religious convictions, as well as their medical circumstances, during disciplinary matters.

Drug abuse

Drug abuse is a huge headache for parents and teachers. Therefore, the regulations regarding the possession of drugs on the school grounds and during school activities have been refined. Furthermore, the regulations regarding suspension and expulsion of learners guilty of this have been adapted so that in cases of serious misbehaviour, schools can take suitable action.

Parental involvement

It appears that there is unhappiness about the limitation of the powers of school governing bodies. Where school previously could determine their own admission and language policy, the governing body must now, according to the new legislation, first submit it to the provincial head of education for approval.

Some schools feel it is a violation of their democratic rights which limits parental involvement. In an ideal society, it is the duty of the governing body to assist the school principal and his management team with certain tasks and to give guidance on important decisions. In fact, the involvement of parents in the school is a basic principle of education which must be strongly encouraged.

Language and admission policy

The DBE argues however that any changes to the language and admission policy of a school shall take place “after consultation with the governing body of the school”. According to the DBE, this will ensure that all official languages enjoy equal rights and that schools cannot use language as a basis for discrimination.

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During the Rivonia Primary court case in 2013 the Constitutional Court confirmed that the DBE does have the right to set aside the non-admission of a learner. That authority is now contained in the new legislation according to which the Head of Education can force a public school to offer more than one language of tuition if there is such a need.

The condition is that language must become part of the school’s language and admission policy and that the DBE shall supply the necessary resources for the tuition of the additional language. It is also gratifying that South African Sign Language will now enjoy official status according to the new legislation.

Inequality

A problem which I observed as circuit manager in Stellenbosch was that all schools and their governing bodies were not on the same page when it comes to the economy, education and skills. Unfortunately, the shadow of our country’s awful past is still with us. How for example do you compare a school with school fees of thousands of rand and which manages a budget of several millions with a school where the annual school fee is just R500 and they are satisfied if they collect only one-third of it?

As far as education is concerned, I can mention that I have worked with members of governing bodies who could not read or write! Regarding skills, parents in poor communities often were deprived of the best schooling and do not have luxuries like auditors, accountants and lawyers. These parents cannot prepare or interpret bank statements or budgets. Much training is needed before they can compile a language and admission policy independently. To thus expect that they will submit this to the authorities is far from unreasonable.

Good faith

Perhaps the solution is to follow a more nuanced approach: to help and train where necessary, and to ask those schools with the necessary skills to give a hand where required. In my view this is where the real problem lies: we must support one another as fellow citizens. Perhaps the Constitutional Court said it best (during the Rivonia Primary court case) when the court asked the school, the parents and the state to work together in good faith.

If we really want to show our children the way to a truly non-racial society where all South Africans live together in harmony and peace, we must live those values ourselves and teach them to our children while at school. It is a sad day if children who were born after 1994 in a democratic South Africa hurl racist words at one another. Where would they have learned them?

Good news

The new legislation also brings good news: amid concern that rural schools are losing learners due to urbanisation, they can now amalgamate, according to the new legislation. This can bring unity between communities which were previously separated by apartheid.

In these difficult economic times, it is encouraging that parents have the option of waiving school fees. With corruption running rampant, the bill makes provision that parents who provide false information or forged documents to achieve a waiver can be prosecuted.

More good news is that governing bodies will not have unlimited powers. According to the proposed amendment bill, action will be taken against governing bodies that are guilty of dereliction of duty. They will be summarily deprived of their functions. For the sake of transparency, the school finances must be regularly reported on. The appointment of staff, as well as schools’ procurement procedures will be closely watched to prevent nepotism and doing business with “friends”. Governing bodies which are repeat offenders will be dissolved by the Head of Education.

Optimism

I have noted the criticism of the new legislation but we should beware of throwing out the baby with the bathwater. True optimist that I am, I believe this is an attempt by the government to not only address the problems in the education system, but also to put legislation in place which addresses the inequalities of the past and will make the lives of teachers — who recently went through difficult times — much easier.

The onus is on us, the educationists, to prove that we can be trusted to apply this new legislation in good faith with fellow citizens in a way that will benefit all our children giving them access to quality education. DM

Prof Michael le Cordeur is Vice-Dean Teaching and Learning in the Faculty of Education at the University of Stellenbosch. He is the chair of the University’s Het Jan Marais Fonds and deputy chair of the Stigting vir die bemagtiging deur Afrikaans.