A thousand times no to Bela!

15 November 2023

Parents, not government officials, must have control over their children’s schools.

The results of Solidarity’s survey among Afrikaans-speaking parents left little doubt about their beliefs regarding the government’s proposed Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill – or Bela legislation.

In a report on this survey issued by the Solidarity Research Institute (SRI), more than a thousand parents clearly answered “no” to the main question.

The 1 302 respondents were overwhelmingly in agreement in their answers and opinions regarding the proposed amendments to the law, including that decisions regarding the language and admissions policy of schools will henceforth no longer rest with the school governing bodies but with the respective provincial education departments.

The questions put to respondents were the following:

- Is Afrikaans being threatened by the proposed Bela Bill?

The vast majority (98,16%) believe that Afrikaans is indeed being threatened by the Bela Bill. This constitutes 1 278 of the 1 302 respondents.

- Will the quality of teaching be negatively affected by the Bela legislation?

Almost all respondents (99%) believe that the quality of teaching will be negatively affected by the legislation. This constitutes 1 289 of the 1 302 respondents.

- Give your impressions of the appropriate relationship between the state and schools.

Parents prefer more power for governing bodies, greater independence for schools as well as more self-management, and a supporting role for the state and less state control.

- Share your sentiment on the Bela Bill.

A total of 97,39% of the respondents who participated in the survey feel negatively towards the proposed legislation.

Afrikaans speakers’ opinion on the Bela Bill.

Parents indicated that they believe it would not be in the best interests of learners; that parents will be deprived of their rights; and that minority groups will be oppressed by this legislation.

This study highlights Afrikaans speakers' need for school governing bodies to retain their rights, rather than placing these rights in the hands of the education department.

According to Johnell Prinsloo, education researcher at the SRI, this is the case because people do not trust the state and the department of education.

“Parents do not want to see the future of their children, or their language, being threatened by these officials’ actions. They would much rather see parents remaining in control of schools and determining how that school should be run in the best interests of the learners,” Prinsloo said.

She believes the data from this survey indicates that the government’s public participation processes were insufficient and that the comments of the public and especially minority groups were ignored.

“This can be interpreted as gross negligence on the part of the legislative authority and failure of its constitutional duties towards the South African public and especially minority groups,” Prinsloo said.

Solidarity will oppose at every possible level the government's efforts to push through the legislation despite the public's openly expressed aversion to it.

Read the report here.

Issued by Johnell Prinsloo, Policy Analyst: Solidarity Research Institute, 15 November 2023