SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOLS ACT AMENDMENT
Private
Members’ Bill
Submitted
in terms of Section 73 (2)
Read
with Section 76 (1) of the Constitution
MEMORANDUM
Notice is hereby given of the
introduction of a Private Members’ Bill in terms of Section 73 (2) read with
Section 76 (1) of the Constitution. In terms of rule 234 (read with rule 230
(1), a member must submit to the Speaker a memorandum which:
(a)
sets out particulars of the proposed legislation
(b)
explains the objects of the proposed legislation; and
(c)
states whether the proposed legislation will have financial
implications for the State and, if so, whether those implications may be a
determining factor when the proposed legislation is considered.
The Honourable Speaker is requested
to deal with this Bill in terms of Section 235 of the National Assembly Rules.
The
following amendments to the South
African Schools Act 1996 (Act 84 of 1996)
[hereinafter referred to as “the Act”] are proposed:
1.
AMENDMENTS TO THE ACT
1.1
In Chapter 2, Section 3 (5), replace “If a learner
who is subject to compulsory attendance in terms of subsection (1) is not
enrolled at or fails to attend a school, the Head of Department may-” with
“If a learner who is subject to compulsory attendance in terms of subsection
(1) is not enrolled at or fails to attend a school, the Head of Department must-”
1.2
In Chapter 3, Section 12, insert the following as
sub-section (7):
(7) In order to respect, protect,
promote and fulfil the constitutional right to a basic education, the Member of
the Executive Council must provide learners with an education
that is available, accessible, acceptable and adaptable. This requires the Member of the Executive
Council to:
(a) Make
available all necessary and reasonable human and material resources, including
adequately trained educators, school buildings, classrooms, furniture, teaching
equipment, books and writing materials, as well as access to sanitation, water
and electricity so that educational institutions and programmes are able to
function effectively and be available to all learners;
(b) Make
education both economically and physically accessible on the basis of
non-discrimination;
(c) Create
the conditions for an acceptable learning environment by providing for (i) the
design of curricula and implementation of teaching methods that enable learners
to meet basic learning needs such as literacy, numeracy and oral expression;
and (ii) measures that protect educational institutions and learners from
violence, crime, lawlessness, abuse and gangsterism;
(d) Adopt
policy measures to ensure that the education system is adaptable and able to
respond to the needs of learners who come from diverse social, cultural and language
backgrounds.
Section 29 (1) (a) of the
Constitution of the
The right to basic education is
direct and immediate. Unlike many of the other
socio-economic rights enshrined in the Constitution, it is unqualified by
“reasonable legislative measures”, “progressive realisation” or “available
resources”. As such, the state must implement measures giving effect to the
right as a matter of absolute priority.
There is currently no official
definition of basic education in national legislation, which makes it difficult
to enforce the right. The White Paper on Education and
Training states that “appropriately designed education programmes to the
level of…one year reception class plus 9 years of schooling…would adequately
define basic education for the purposes of the constitutional requirement”.
It is
submitted, however, that basic education should not be defined in terms of age
or the completion of a particular level of schooling alone. Rather, in terms of
international best practice and international human rights law – in particular,
General Comment No 13 of the Committee on Economic, Cultural and Social Rights –
basic education should be defined as education that is available, accessible, acceptable
and adaptable.
Accordingly, this Private Members
Bill seeks to define the scope, content and meaning of basic education within
the framework of availability, accessibility, acceptability and adaptability.
Furthermore, given the relatively
low enrolment rates and high drop-out rates in South African public schools,
which mean that many learners drop out of school before they are functionally
literate or numerate, this Private Members Bill also seeks to make it
obligatory for the state to investigate why a learner is failing to attend
school.
The State spends very significant
amounts of money on providing primary education but it has become apparent that
much of that money is not spent to best advantage because there is no benchmark
against which spending priorities are determined. If such benchmarking in terms
of internationally agreed norms took place, the budget could target areas
requiring additional expenditure and make significant savings in other areas.
The
Legislation will have no financial implications.
Signature: ……………………………………………………………..
Date:
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