Why am I, an educator, up in arms over the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill? Consider the following, which the bill aims to change: The school governing body is no longer entitled to consider the applications of appointment at schools for heads of department, deputy principals and principals. The Department of Education will decide on this without any input from governing bodies; Heads of departments will have less say in the language policy of a school; Only the MEC will have the authority to approve money matters as mundane as obtaining a photocopier machine for the school; Educators will be forced to disclose their own financial interests and those of their spouse; and Parents will be denied the right to choose their children’s medium of instruction, be it English or Tswana, in the lower grades and will be denied the right to choose the religious ethos of their school or be free to home-school a child. Note that I said "their school". Parents are an integral part of a society ...
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