Issued by: Ministry of Education
STATEMENT BY PROF S M E BENGU, MINISTER OF EDUCATION 05 MARCH 1996
The Department of Education, ably assisted by members of my legal panel, presented the first working draft of the South African Schools Bill for preliminary discussions to the Portfolio Committee on Education today. This is aimed at enabling the Portfolio Committee to thorougly debate and discuss this important piece of legislation from a very early stage. It marks another major milestone on the road to educational transformation in this country.
On 13 March 1996, I intend tabling before the Cabinet Committee on Social and Administrative Affairs the following linked documents for consideration:
(a) The draft Schools Bill (b) The draft Finance Policy on Schools (c) The Ministry's negotiating position in terms of section 247 of the Constitution.
These documents are realisation of those aspects of policy that were foreshadowed in the Education White Paper 2 and will therefore complete the process of policy determination in this area, that was started with the appointment of the Review Committee about a year ago.
On the 20th of March 1996 I intend approaching my Cabinet Colleagues for approval and endorsement of the steps I have taken and a mandate for the negotiation position of my ministry. In the meantime the draft Schools Bill and the Finance Policy on Schools will be gazetted on the 14th March 1996 in order that they should be subjected to public scrutiny and consultation. These documents will be in the public domain until the 12th April 1996. On the basis of these public comments, my Department will thereafter prepare a final draft of the Policy on Finance and the Schools Bill for Cabinet approval. The Cabinet Committee will consider these documents on the 17th April 1996 and the full Cabinet on 24th April 1996. The Draft Schools Bill will go through Parliamentary processes, after Cabinet approval, with the view to table in Parliament on the 26th of June 1996.
I am fully committed to a full and fair public airing on these sensitive matters before the adoption of legislation or policy. I therefore invite the South African public to have a sober and dispassionate discourse on the future of the schooling system in South Africa. On the part of the media, I would appeal for a full and fair report on this process, in order to give the public the widest array of opinion that will enrich this important debate.
The policy and legislative proposals which will emerge from this process will be wide-ranging in their scope and profound in their implications. I therefore intend to fully consult the leadership and membership of my party in order to obtain a full mandate for the vast and complex challenge for educational reconstruction that lies ahead.
For further information please contact Mr Lincoln Mali at 083 251 4044 or (021) 457 350