BELA Bill adopted in National Assembly
The Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill has cleared the National Assembly hurdle.
Two hundred and thirty-three MPs voted for its adoption, while 83 voted against it.
The bill proposes giving provincial education departments authority over schools' language policies.
It also proposes changes to the compulsory school starting age and home-schooling.
During the debate on Thursday afternoon, the EFF came out in support of it, with party member Ringo Madlingozi arguing language is being used to exclude black pupils from schools in the Western Cape.
READ: DA: BELA Bill will destroy quality education
"We are also in support of the powers to be given to the heads of the department to make final determination of the language policy to the schools.
"This function cannot be left to the SGBs. We further submit that the standardisation of languages should be centralised in the department and not different HODs from different provinces.
"The same logic must apply for the code of conduct for all schools. This function must be centralised by the department, not SGBs. In particular, in the Western Cape where Afrikaans is used to exude African learners."
