The Democratic Alliance says the president should not sign a controversial education bill into law.
President Cyril Ramaphosa and John Steenhuisen agreed to form a coalition government after the ANC lost its majority in May's election
Even though the ANC and the Democratic Alliance now share power, there is still no agreement over the changes. The abolition of corporal punishment will be backed by fines and possibly jail time for those who administer itThe clause which has caused the most controversy is the one concerning strengthening government oversight over language and admission policies.The previous ANC government argued that language and other admission criteria were being used to “derail access to schools the majority of learners”.
The DA has defended the right of school governing bodies to determine their language policies, citing the constitution and the importance and protection of learning in one's mother-tongue.Civil rights group AfriForum has described the bill as an attack against Afrikaans education and has said it remains committed to opposing the legislation as “it poses a threat to the continued existence of Afrikaans schools and quality education”.
These are allowed to continue through a loophole in the current law where the students are registered as “home learners” and the teachers offer “tuition”. But through the Bela bill, the government wants to close the loophole and ensure they are regulated like state schools.After the ANC lost its outright majority in parliament, it needed coalition partners to remain in power.
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