The Bela Bill: A step towards educational equity or bureaucratic overreach?

TARA ROOS

As South Africa engaged with the world at the UN’s inaugural Summit of the Future, which took place on September 22 and 23, 2024, attention was turned to the country's progress toward the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

For South Africa, a nation grappling with a host of socio-economic challenges, one goal stands out: SDG 4, focused on ensuring quality education for all.

The Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Bill is being framed as a legislative leap towards this goal. Positioned as a bold reform to modernise the country’s unequal education system, the bill promises to address governance, admissions, language policy and learner safety.

It even claims to align South Africa with the global education targets set out by the UN. But the question that lingers is whether the ambitious legislative move is a genuine step toward educational equity or merely bureaucratic overreach cloaked in high-minded ideals.

South Africa’s education system is, without question, in a state of crisis. Despite the government allocating around 6.6% of its gross domestic product to education – one of the highest levels globally, according to the World Bank – the outcomes remain nothing short of abysmal. Year after year, South Africa consistently ranks among the worst in international assessments of literacy, maths and science.

The brunt of the failure is borne by the poorest learners, particularly those in rural and township schools, where underqualified teachers, inadequate infrastructure and overcrowded classrooms are the norm. Violence, drug use and the legacy of apartheid spatial planning continue to haunt the institutions.

On paper, the Bela Bill offers solutions that seem aligned with SDG 4’s call for inclusive and equitable education. The bill mandates Grade R as compulsory, a move that could indeed address early childhood education – one of the cornerstones of foundational learning. It also outlaws corporal punishment and emphasises the importance of safe, non-violent learning environments. These are positive steps. But beneath the noble intentions lies a more complicated and potentially dangerous reality.

One of the bill’s most touted reforms is its provision that language policies and learner admissions will be subject to the approval of the Head of Department (HOD). The rationale behind this is to prevent exclusionary practices at schools that have historically catered to specific linguistic or cultural groups, especially in areas marked by linguistic diversity. While the intent is inclusivity, the approach could easily tip into a form of bureaucratic authoritarianism. Centralising control of language policy and admissions risks alienating communities who have traditionally had a say in how their schools are run.

Sceptics of the Bela Bill are sounding alarms about this, including those inside the minister of education’s own party. School Governing Bodies (SGBs), made up of parents, teachers and community members, have long played a key role in shaping school policy, from admissions to language instruction.

The bodies ensure that schools meet the needs of their communities. By handing the power to the HOD, the government is effectively disempowering those who are most invested in the success of their schools. The bill claims to be fostering inclusivity, but in reality, it risks diluting the autonomy of schools and the communities they serve.

The bill’s impact on Afrikaans-medium schools, in particular, has sparked debate. Forcing the schools to adopt additional languages of instruction might seem progressive, but it could erode the cultural identity of the institutions without addressing the more significant issue – the chronic shortage of schools across the country.

Afrikaans schools represent only about 5% of schools nationwide, and with approximately 5.2 million (26.6%) children of school-going age not enrolled in school, according to the 2022 census, the deficit of children not receiving an education extends far beyond those not being able to access 5% of the schools due to the language of instruction. Rural and township schools are unlikely to have the resources to implement new language policies effectively, further widening the gap between promise and reality.

Perhaps the most troubling aspect of the Bela Bill is its punitive approach to enforcing educational attendance. The criminalisation of school disruptions such as strikes or protests, alongside harsher penalties for parents whose children miss school, disproportionately targets South Africa's most marginalised communities.

In a country where poverty, unemployment and systemic inequality make consistent school attendance a daily struggle, it does nothing to address the root causes of absenteeism. Instead, it places an undue burden on those who are struggling to keep their children in school.

The Bela Bill also takes aim at the governance of schools, particularly through its financial oversight measures. While the bill’s provisions for dissolving underperforming or corrupt SGBs might seem like a logical step toward improving accountability, they also represent a form of overreach. SGBs, though not perfect, are often the bridge between schools and their communities. Stripping them of their decision-making power risks severing the vital connection.

As we reflect on the country’s progress toward SDG 4, we must ask ourselves whether the Bela Bill represents a step forward, or if it is simply more of the same –bureaucracy masquerading as progress.

The bill’s intentions – equity, inclusivity and safety – are unquestionably in line with global education goals. But its top-down approach to governance and punitive measures raise serious concerns about its long-term effectiveness.

The future of South African education does not lie solely in legislative reform. It requires a collaborative approach that involves meaningful engagement with communities. Without this, the Bela Bill will just become another in a long line of well-intentioned, but ultimately ineffective, policies that fail to address the real challenges facing South Africans.

Tara Roos, a policy writer, researcher and political analyst, is serving as a UN Youth Ambassador for Education (SDG 4).

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