ActionSA, Solidarity welcome Gwarube call for BELA Bill to return to Parliament for review

CAPE TOWN - ActionSA and trade union, Solidarity, have welcomed Minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube's call for the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Bill to be sent back to Parliament for review.

The legislation was passed by Parliament days before the end of the sixth administration in May.

Some political parties and concerned groups have rejected some clauses, particularly around language and admission policies.

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The new minister now intends to ask the president to halt its signing.

ActionSA's Samkelo Mgobozi said the bill failed to address existing challenges in the education system.

"The minister's communicated intention comes as a relief following the stubborn posture taken by the ANC [African National Congress] in the sixth administration, who were hell-bent on pushing through the legislation, which, undoubtedly, would only serve to compound the challenges by introducing a series of proposals that lack coherence and fail to align with the actual needs and realities of our education system."

Solidarity's Johnell Prinsloo added that the union supported a review of the bill.

"We especially believe that SGBs [school-governing bodies] and school communities know what is best for their children and their schools. Legislation should protect these rights rather than usurp them."