ANC trying to exert more political control over schools‚ DA charges

Recent developments point to a sinister and sustained attempt by the ANC to exert more political control over the country’s school system‚ the Democratic Alliance charged on Sunday.

DA spokesman on basic education Gavin Davis said that on Friday Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga had announced in the Government Gazette that she had established a Task Team to oversee the implementation of history as a compulsory subject in grades 10-12.

This has been done without public consultation on whether or not making history compulsory was a good idea‚ he said.

“It should be noted that calls to make History compulsory from Grade 10-12 have emanated from within the tripartite alliance – notably SADTU. This raises concerns that school History will be abused as a political propaganda tool‚ as it was by the apartheid government‚” Davis asserted.

He said there were no good reasons to make History compulsory for Grades 10-12.

“All learners already study History up to Grade 9. Thereafter‚ all Grade 10-12 learners take ‘Life Orientation’ which includes topics such as ‘citizenship’ and ‘democracy and human rights’.

“Making History compulsory will come at a significant price. Not only will it curtail learner choices‚ it will divert resources away from where they are needed most - in Mathematics‚ the sciences and languages. The DA therefore opposes the move to make History compulsory in Grades 10-12‚” Davis added.

It had also been reported that the proposed National Education Laws Amendment Bill aimed to take away the powers of School Governing Bodies to recommend the appointment of Heads of Department‚ Deputy Principals and Principals and to determine the language and admissions policies of schools‚ he said.

“The move to strip School Governing Bodies of their powers is an attempt to exert greater state control over public schools. It should be remembered that South Africa has a co-operative system of school governance that takes into account parents‚ the broader school community‚ learners‚ teachers and the government. Any attempt to disrupt this balance is a threat to the democratic ethos that underpins our public school system.”

The ANC also appeared to have declared war on independent schools‚ Davis said.

“As Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi said at the NGC this weekend: ‘Private schools are part of the education system and can’t operate outside it. That period of just giving them licences and leaving them alone is gone’.”

Davis asserted that these moves were all politically motivated and not one of the proposals was borne of a genuine desire to strengthen the country’s education system.

“The system of Bantu Education was perhaps the most pernicious aspect of Apartheid. It is to our national shame that we have been unable to meaningfully dent its legacy in the last twenty years. If the ANC is serious about improving the quality of education for our poorest learners‚ it will desist with the political sideshows and focus on fixing what is broken instead‚” Davis stated.

RDM News Wire.