BELA BILL SIGNING CEREMONY ANNOUNCED

BELA BILL SIGNING CEREMONY ANNOUNCED

• 11 September 2024
• Education & Training
• SA Legal Academy

President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to sign the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill into law on 13 September 2024 at a ceremony to be held at Pretoria’s Union Buildings.

Passed by Parliament in May 2024, once operationalised the new piece of legislation will, among other things:

• make Grade R the new compulsory school-starting age
• require the governing body of a state-run school to consider ‘the language needs of the broader community’ when determining a school’s language policy
• strengthen the powers of provincial heads of department regarding the admission of learners
• make it mandatory to register any learner receiving home schooling
• penalise parents or guardians ‘who do not ensure their children are in school’, and
• strengthen existing provisions prohibiting corporal punishment by making it an offence with ‘penalties for those found guilty’.

A child’s right to be educated in their home language lies at the heart of widespread concerns about some of the Bill’s most contentious provisions.

• Presidency statement
• Bill’s ‘D’ version now waiting to be signed into law  

Published by SA Legal Academy Policy Watch

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