Civil rights group AfriForum on Thursday stated that Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Basic Education offered little clarity on the Department of Basic Education’s proposed amendments to the Schools Act, following a meeting on Tuesday.

The proposed amendments have been criticised for limiting the power of school governing bodies to appoint staff and decide language and admission policies.

In a statement AfriForum project coordinator for education Carien Bloem said the meeting did not address the many misgivings about the proposed Amendment Bill.  
 
The group says schools that will be impacted most are those that are offering the best quality of education and enjoy parent-community involvement, whatever the socioeconomic situation of the community.

Bloem further stated that not all provincial education department heads were in a position to optimally manage all the schools in their provinces and, therefore, governing bodies’ rights with regard to the management of schools, learners and personnel cannot be taken away.

“Many of the proposed amendments are the result of the current poor performance and maladministration in the department, and not because of shortcomings in current legislation. Many of the amendments are therefore unnecessary. The department should in many cases rather fulfil its duties by offering more functional schools to the thousands of learners who do not have access to schools and quality education, for example,” said Bloem. 
 
The chairperson of the committee Nomalungelo Gina mentioned that the process was still in the beginning stages and that the final Bill would only be presented in Parliament next year.
 
However, representative of the African Christian Democratic Party Cheryllyn Dudley strongly recommended that schools be evaluated according to their unique circumstances, pointing out that not all schools in South Africa functioned at the same level. 
 
Deputy Minister of Basic Education Mohamed Surty indicated that the Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga had issued a postponement for comments on the Amendment Bill until January 10, 2018.