Gwarube publishes first 2 BELA regulations for public comment

CAPE TOWN - Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube has officially published the first two regulations under the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act (BELA) for public comment.
 
The two sets of regulations in the contentious legislation have been gazetted after months of discussions and calls from the basic education portfolio committee for Gwarube to finalise them.
 
Parents, schools and members of the public can now make submissions on the regulations that relate to key issues like school admissions.
 
Minister Gwarube has been under pressure from the committee to publish the 10 regulations that will govern how the BELA Act will be implemented.
 
Gwarube said that the publishing of the first two sets of regulations "marks a significant milestone" in what she called the "responsible and inclusive implementation" of the act that became law in September last year.
 
She said that the gazetted regulations related to key provisions of the South African Schools Act regarding capacity and admissions.
 
On school capacity, the regulations state that from grade one to twelve, there must be one teacher to a maximum of 40 learners.
 
Gwarube said that the regulations were designed to ensure that the amendments introduced by the BELA Act were implemented in a manner that "upholds learners’ rights, enhances school functionality, and maintains the careful balance of powers and functions between school governing bodies and government".
 
Gwarube said that further regulations would be released for public comment as soon as they were finalised, legally vetted and approved.
 
She said her department had adopted a "modular release approach" to avoid the delays caused by releasing all the regulations in bulk.