Scores of schools have yet to complete reviews of their admission and language policies in line with the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Act, prompting Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Basic Education to demand a detailed breakdown of the outstanding reviews.
The committee made the request on Tuesday following a briefing by the Department of Basic Education (DBE) on progress with implementing the legislation.
According to the department, 11 715 admission-policy reviews and 11 657 language-policy reviews remain outstanding.
Committee chairperson Joy Maimela said the committee was concerned that the delays could disadvantage parents applying for school admission if institutions continued relying on outdated policies that were not aligned with the amended legislation.
“This is a critical time when parents are applying for admission for their children, and if these admission and language policies are not reviewed and are not aligned to the current tenets of the legislation, parents may be prejudiced by the previous policies,” Maimela said.
The committee requested a school-by-school breakdown indicating which institutions had not completed the reviews, the reasons for the delays and the support required to finalise the process.
Maimela said provincial figures alone were insufficient to establish the challenges facing individual schools and determine whether appropriate interventions were being implemented.
The committee also raised concerns about schools’ outstanding reviews of their codes of conduct, which must incorporate amendments to the South African Schools Act dealing with learners’ rights, including hairstyles, religious beliefs and corporal punishment.
Maimela warned that the implementation process could not remain open-ended and called for clear and realistic timelines.
Challenges were also raised regarding the rollout of compulsory Grade R, particularly shortages of classrooms, practitioners’ qualifications and differences in employment arrangements across provinces.
The department reported that seven provinces employ Grade R practitioners who receive stipends, while Mpumalanga and North West appoint educators who receive salaries. Limpopo is currently the only province that includes Grade R in its educator post-provisioning model.
The department indicated that a review of post-provisioning arrangements was under way, with a draft policy expected this month. Its longer-term objective is to incorporate Grade R posts fully into provincial educator post-provisioning arrangements.
Maimela questioned why such significant differences had developed between provinces in their progress towards providing Grade R.
The committee further expressed dissatisfaction with delays in finalising the regulations required to support the implementation of the BELA Act.
“The pace is not satisfactory, and we are not happy with it. The department needs to improve,” Maimela said, adding that the committee expected the regulations to be finalised by the time the department next appeared before it.
The BELA Act introduces several changes to the South African education system, including making Grade R compulsory and strengthening provisions governing school admissions and language policies.
The committee said it would continue monitoring the department’s progress in addressing the outstanding implementation matters.