Almost two decades ago, a world commission came up with a blueprint called Education for the 21st Century, and identified four fundamental types of learning that, through a person's life, would be the pillars of knowledge: learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together and learning to be.
The blueprint, by Unesco, also spoke about seven overarching tensions: global v local, universal v individual, tradition v modernity, long-term v short-term considerations, competition v concern for equality of opportunity, expansion of knowledge v our capacity to assimilate it, and finally the tension between the spiritual and the material.
There is no topic in our rainbow nation - as a member of the global village - that has caused more division among teachers, administrators and parents than inclusive education as it relates to educational and social values, our sense of individual worth and - as Unesco concluded - "expansion of knowledge and our capacity to assimilate it" and "learning to live together and learning to be through self-realisation".That is why the Department of Basic Education has proposed to amend the South African Schools Act and the Employment of Educators Act through a bill currently referred to as the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill, to foster a diversity and social cohesion mindset.
Among others, the draft bill seeks to:
• Give the head of the provincial education department the final authority to admit a pupil to a public school;
• Ensure that a public school must take into account the diverse cultural beliefs and religious observances of pupils;
• Limit the powers of a school governing body in recommending candidates for appointment;
• Empower the head of the provincial education department to dissolve an SGB that has ceased to perform functions allocated to it in terms of the law;
• Prohibit educators from conducting business with the state or from being a director of a public or private company conducting business with the state;
• Require the SGB to submit the language policy of a public school, and any amendment thereof, to the head of the provincial education department for approval;
• Authorise education officers to conduct an investigation into the financial affairs of a public school after consultation with the governing body; and
• Request the auditor-general to undertake an audit of the records and financial statements of a public school.The aim of the proposed bill is to promote social inclusion, create social consciousness and foster a strong sense of belonging in all of us.
It recognises that divisiveness comes naturally and that a conscious, concerted effort is required to further the goals of social justice and equality.
That is why this draft bill should not be a threat to anybody, including teachers, administrators and parents, and even the Federation of Governing Bodies of South African Schools.
Of course, the minister and my colleagues across the provinces are concerned that more than 80% of the pupil population of former Model C schools are black while the teaching staff remain white.
We cannot be held to ransom by nonprogressive and self-centred beneficiaries of the past and the haters of transformation.
It is quite clear that those who continue to benefit from the remnants of segregation and colonialism to the exclusion of the majority of our people are hellbent on putting up a fierce fight to close out our people from accessing quality education.
This is tantamount to a regrouping of those who would like to exclusively keep these benefits to themselves...