Govt, Solidarity Movement reach BELA agreement
Afriforum
and Solidarity say they reached an agreement with the government over two
controversial clauses of the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act.
The organisations, under the Solidarity Movement, have been in mediation with the Basic Education Department and the Presidency at the National Economic, Development and Labour Council.
The Solidarity Movement confirmed that that the dispute over Clause 4 and 5 of the Act had been resolved.
They have agreed that the sections will no longer be implemented on 13 December 2024.
Clause 5 gives provincial departments control to change a school's mother tongue education policy, if the community around the school does not speak the language.
READ: Sadtu doubts full Bela Act will be implemented by Gwarube
Clause 4 allows the department to mandate schools to take on more students, if there is an overflow elsewhere.
In a statement, the movement said they have agreed that national policies and regulations must first be developed to determine that schools which are full may not receive instructions to change their language and admission policy.
The school’s immediate environment and not the larger education district must be taken into account, when decisions are made.
Afriforum’s chief executive officer, Kallie Kriel has expressed his satisfaction with the agreement.
"This agreement is a very positive step towards finding and win-win solution that would be in the interest of all children in the country. It is not only about Afrikaans, it is about the concept of mother tongue education and we are looking forward to participating in further discussions to see how mother tongue education can expand to all language communities.
"Children we know perform best in their mother tongue and all children should have the right the best possible opportunity to perform and that they will get through mother tongue education."
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