DA will resist ANC attempts to increase political interference in schools

11 October 2015

Recent developments point to a sinister and sustained attempt by the ANC to exert more political control over our school system.  

Firstly, on Friday, Minister Angie Motshekga announced in the Government Gazette that she has 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 is a good idea. 

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. 

There are 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. 

Secondly, it was revealed in the Sunday Times that the proposed National Education Laws Amendment Bill aims to take away the powers of School Governing Bodies to: 

1. Recommend the appointment of Heads of Department, Deputy Principals and Principals.

2. Determine the school's language policy.

3. Determine the school's admissions policy. 

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. 

Thirdly, the ANC appears to have declared war on independent schools. 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.” 

What the MEC doesn’t mention is that private schools are already part of the education system and are, in fact, regulated by the South African Schools Act. His rage is therefore misplaced. If the ANC is concerned at parents abandoning public schools in favour of affordable independent schools, then it should focus on improving the quality of schooling in public schools.

Moves to unduly interfere with independent schools, to remove the powers of governing bodies in public schools and to force children to take History in Grades 10-12 are all politically motivated. Indeed, not one of these proposals is borne of a genuine desire to strengthen our 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. 

Statement issued by Gavin Davis MP, DA Shadow Minister of Basic Education, 11 October 2015