Press Statement dated 20 October 2018
The Federation of Unions of South Africa (FEDUSA) is totally outraged that the DA-controlled Western Cape Provincial Legislature has seen it fit to pass the controversial School Education Amendment Bill which will allow for the sale and consumption of alcohol on school premises in the region.
The passing of the Bill is the height of political irresponsibility that will not only worsen a plethora of existing social problems such as brazen and brutal criminality induced by widespread substance abuse but will also definitely legitimatize alcohol abuse and rascality in young and impressionable minds in the region. The message that these youngsters will take from the passing of this Bill is that if the Provincial Fathers say it’s cool to drown one’s brain in alcohol and be abusive towards others afterwards, then it’s definitely a cool thing to do.
From a policy perspective the passing of Bill also contradicts the letter and spirit of national education laws that proscribe the sale and consumption of alcohol and other harmful substances such as drugs to young people during social functions organized by schools within or outside their premises. The Bill will definitely legalize and legitimize the consumption of alcohol by young people around school premises – which in a normal world should be unthinkable – which no adults, including Western Cape legislators, should offload on South Africa’s children.
One of FEDUSA’s biggest concerns is the establishment of a School Evaluation Authority (SEA).The SEA will receive its instructions from the Provincial Minister and will report directly to him/her. The problem is that the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) is responsible for the education in the region. This would include the delivering of the curriculum, employment of educators and other day-to - day functions essential for schooling in the Western Cape.
By establishing the SEA, FEDUSA now find that the Provincial Minister is now infringing on the roles and responsibilities of the WCED. Is it a question that education in the Western Cape will no longer be run from the WCED Head office but from the Provincial Ministers office? Another major concern is the establishment of collaboration and donor funded schools. We will always encourage donors who want to invest and donate to schools to the benefit of the learners at the school.
The Bill however makes provision for an external operating partner to form part of the School governing body of the school of such collaboration and donor funded schools. Who will be this operating partner? Who decides which operating partner will be involved with which school? We are now creating a situation where external entities will be involved with the day to day running of the school. In the case of a collaboration school, 50% of the School Governing Body must be allocated to the operating partner.
It is important to remember that the SGB is a democratically elected body which consist of representatives from staff, parents and learners in the case on high schools. It is concerning that 50% of a body, that is suppose too be democratically elected, is now being handed over to an external entity. FEDUSA would like appeal to all labour formations and community based organizations in the region to demand and campaign for the immediate reversal of this controversial Bill.
Issued by Dennis George, General Secretary, Federation of Unions of SA (Fedusa)