N Pandor: Education Laws Amendment Bill

20 September 2007

Madam Speaker, the Bill before you today has been endorsed by many
stakeholders. The Bill seeks to strengthen the statutory measures that support
quality in education, sets out roles and functions of school principals as key
managers in schools, and provides measures directed at curbing the scourge of
drugs in our schools.

The key features of the Education Laws Amendment Bill are the following.

1 Consultation on policy through National Education Policy Act (Nepa)

The first key feature of the Bill concerns the bodies that the minister is
required to consult in the formulation of policy. The Nepa currently has two
sections; section 5 and section 11, which can be read against one another. They
are not elegant in formulation and cause confusion as they appear to contradict
each other. To remove that confusion we offer a simpler formulation that makes
it clear that the Minister of Education may establish a National Education and
Training Council and other bodies to advice on any policy matter.

Concern has been expressed in some of the submissions, as it is believed
that the minister determines policy alone.

Honourable members know that the minister does not make policy without
consulting the public and stakeholders. Currently, trade unions and others
engage with the minister in a wide range of bodies, the Education Labour
Relations Council and the Forum for National Governing Body Associations as key
examples. I am also pleased to inform members that we have already taken steps
to establish the National Education and Training Council (NETC).

2. Norms and standards for capacity and school infrastructure

The second key feature of the Bill is the setting of norms and standards for
capacity and infrastructure in schools across the country. Section 5 is
designed to guide implementation in the provision of infrastructure for
learning. It is our intention to alter the character and quality of school
facilities in South Africa. The three parliaments of our young democracy have
played a vital role in ensuring that resources are made available for the
provision of school resources. Much has been done to redress past imbalances.
We have come a long way as the recently published National Education
Infrastructure Management System (NEIMS) report has revealed. In terms of
success the report states:

* the number of overcrowded schools has fallen from 51% in 1999 to 24% in
2006
* the number of schools with electricity has increased from 11 174 in 1996 to
20 713 in 2006
* the number of schools without water has fallen from 8 823 in 1996 to 3 152 in
2006
* the number of schools without on-site toilets has fallen from 3 265 in 1996
to 1 532 in 2006.

Much still has to be done.

The challenges we have to attend to are as follows. It is clear from the
report that even as we built new schools we continued in some cases to
perpetuate the apartheid design of education facilities. Section 5 of the Bill
on norms and standards for schools clearly sets out our demand that all schools
must have libraries, laboratories and other learning facilities.

NEIMS also revealed that we have hundreds of very small schools in South
Africa and this is an inefficient use of human resources. Furthermore, we have
some severely crowded schools that make learning and discipline difficult if
not impossible. The Bill once signed into law will allow us to set minimum
norms for class sizes in a particular phase or quintile. We plan to ensure that
we relieve teachers of overcrowded classes and create conditions for effective
teaching.

There is no point is setting norms and standards, if there is no mechanism
in place to enforce them. Section 58C requires an MEC and a Head of Department
to comply with the norms and standards relating to schools prescribed by the
Minister. It also requires MECs to report to the Minister each year on the
progress made in complying with promulgated norms and standards.

3. Searching for dangerous weapons and illegal drugs

The third key feature of the Bill is the section that authorises school
principals or a person they delegate to search pupils for dangerous weapons and
illegal drugs and to seize them.

I am certain that given community concern about drug trafficking and drug
abuse all members will support this Bill.

Regulations for safety measures at public schools were promulgated in terms
of the South African Schools Act in 2001. Those regulations are now
incorporated into the body of the South African Schools Act, because this Bill
strengthens the measures.

Section 7 of the Bill creates legal certainty for schools that wish to
address the growing presence of drugs in schools. The Bill is unambiguous about
our resolve to fight the evil of drug abuse. Schools are supported to act, the
rights of learners are protected, and our determination to put an end to drugs
in schools is communicated.

Searching for weapons or drugs is allowed without a pupil's consent, but
only on a reasonable suspicion that a dangerous weapon or drug is concealed by
that pupil; and a search is only allowed under certain controlled
circumstances.

The section will not address all our challenges on its own. Schools will
need to intensify their life skills programmes and use non governmental
organisations and other providers to support learners through awareness
programmes.

There are members of the public who have expressed concern at this section.
They believe the rights of learners may be infringed. The section does not aim
to abuse rights; it aims to protect our children.

We will work closely with schools to develop common and agreed
implementation strategies.

No one can argue against the need to fight drug abuse. The section is
phrased in full awareness of our responsibility to protect learners from
arbitrary searches. A search can only be made by a principal if she has a
reasonable suspicion of finding a weapon or drugs. A pupil cannot be searched
on the mere suspicion of having drugs or a weapon. If we allowed a search on
the mere suspicion of finding a weapon, then we would have the following sorts
of scenarios taking place. A teacher or principal could make the life of a
pupil a misery, because he does not like him or his mother or the colour of his
skin. He could subject the pupil to an endless series of humiliating searches
each day in school.

We cannot have that; our constitution will not allow it. So we need to
measure the level of suspicion that will attract a search. And that level of
suspicion has to be a reasonable one. For example, it will be reasonable to
search a pupil's satchel if it appears to contain weapons.

The power to search a pupil on a reasonable suspicion of finding an
offensive weapon is found in many countries. For example, up until last year
head teachers in the United Kingdom were only able to search pupils with their
consent and were only empowered to ask pupils to give up suspect weapons. From
this year the Violent Crime Reduction Act allows head teachers to conduct body
searches without consent if there is a reasonable suspicion that they are
carrying a weapon. They also have the power to screen pupils through the use of
metal detectors.

The random search and seizure section in our Bill also allows a principal or
her delegate to administer urine or other non-invasive test to a learner who is
reasonably suspected of being under the influence of drugs.

There has been some debate about this, about the practicality of conducting
urine tests and their cost.

There are schools that routinely test learners with their or their parents'
consent. I had the occasion early this year to visit Stonefountain College here
in Cape Town, where an excellent system is in place and one that many schools
in the public sector will be able to follow.

4. Principal's responsibilities and functions

The fourth key feature of the Bill is the section in which a principal's
responsibilities and functions are spelled out.

Honourable members, education issues seldom receive front-page treatment in
our daily media.

This week was an exception. The Cape Times's front-page story on Tuesday was
headlined "Major salary increases for teachers".

The last time the Cape Times chose to feature education on its front page
was back in 2005 at the time of the world conference for principals. Then the
headline was "We will fight you", Pandor told on 12 July.

The fighting talk was because some school governing bodies thought I had a
plan to transfer some of their powers to principals. I had nothing of the sort
in mind, but that did not stop the Cape Times from making it a front-page
issue. What I said then was this:

"Part of our continuing difficulties may be related to the fact that our
focus has been on the school governing body - it has not been on school
leadership. When we developed new education legislation in the post-election
period in 1995, we gave a great deal of attention to democratisation and very
little attention to policies and practices that are related to our biggest
challenge, the promotion of quality learning and teaching."

Today this Bill gives attention to these issues. It gives attention to
school leadership and to the key role of the principal in the promotion of
quality learning and teaching.
In defining the responsibilities of principals, I think we have made it clear
that the principal is in charge of a school on behalf of the state and not the
school governing body.

The clause has been modified in committee to allow principals to give
evidence against the state, provided she is not called on to give evidence for
the state. It seems to me to be eminently reasonable and a section that the
Honourable Members on the other side of the house should have no compunction in
supporting.

5. Under-performing schools

The fifth and final key feature of the Bill is the section in which we
address the steps that will be taken in order to turn around an
under-performing school. It sets out the formal steps that will be taken to
direct a school on to the path of recovery. And these steps also include
placing a failing principal on terms and providing him or her with assistance
and support.

This section provides the basics for evaluating schools that are failing. It
is a process that we have lacked for a number of years and a process that you
find in almost every other country in the world. In the United Kingdom the
process that is outlined in this section is called putting a school into
"special measures". A school stays in "special measures" until the learning
attainment of its pupils improves or the school sinks further into failure or
worse, until it is closed.

We are about to establish a National Evaluation Unit that will support
provinces in identifying under-performing schools and setting them on the path
to recovery. I am pleased to note that some provinces have already begun to
provide the building blocks for this process of evaluation. Secondary schools
have been set targets for pupils' passes; officials have been set performance
contracts on the same terms.

Honourable members, this Bill provide the essential framework for achieving
quality education in our schools.

Issued by: Department of Education
20 September 2007
Source: Department of Education (http://www.education.gov.za)