Issued by: Department of Education
MEDIA RELEASE ON THE SCHOOL GOVERNANCE NEGOTIATIONS
Twenty-five of the 55 public meetings with school governing bodies organised by the Department of Education have now been held.
The meetings have been called by the Department as part of the process of negotiating alterations to existing public school governance powers as provided in the draft South African Schools Bill. The Bill was gazetted in April for public comment.
The meetings with governing bodies have taken place at centres in Northern Province, Western Cape, Northern Cape and Free State. Physical arrangements for the meetings have been made by the national department in co-operation with respective provincial departments of education.
The negotiating teams conducting the meetings report excellent attendance - usually in the hundreds-and lively discussion on the objectives and provisions of the draft Bill.
The Minister of Education has made it clear, in a document on the proposed changes sent to all governing bodies and published in full in Sunday's press, that amendments to the draft Bill will be undertaken in response to the written and oral submissions by governing bodies.
The Department of Education is astonished at media reports which persist in giving the impression that the entire process had fallen in chaos. This is a disgraceful misrepresentation. The well-publicised events at three Cape Town meetings last week obviously reflect local circumstances. At a few other meetings, some former Model C governing body representatives have stated their displeasure at the proceedings and walked out. At all venues, meetings have continued and concluded in good order.
The Department is confident that the full schedule of meetings will be conducted as planned. At some venues, particularly in the Western Cape, repeat meetings are being scheduled to enable all governing bodies who wish to attend to have their say.
As we had hoped, the public meeting process is turning out to be a superb opportunity to convey the intentions of the draft Bill to a large cross-section of the school community across the land. The new deal for democratic school governance, based on a partnership between local school communities and provincial departments, operating in terms of uniform national norms, is being given a thorough airing.
Issued by: Dr Trevor Coombe, Deputy Director-General
11 June 1996