Question NW1140 to the Minister of Basic Education
05 May 2016 - NW1140
Majola, Mr TR to ask the Minister of Basic Education
With reference to page 17 of her department’s Annual Performance Plan 2016/17, under the section on Revisions to Legislative and other Mandates where it is stated that there are no significant changes to the legislative and other mandates, what is her department’s position with regard to tabling the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill in Parliament in the 2016-17 financial year?
Reply:
After the finalisation of the first draft of the Bill, and before the publication thereof for public comment, I deemed it necessary to present the Bill to some stakeholders, which included School Governing Body (SGB) associations and education sector unions.
Some of these stakeholders commented on the Bill during the presentations, and some subsequently provided the Department with written comments on the Bill. After all the options had been weighed up, it was decided that the comments submitted by these stakeholders should be considered and, where there was merit, incorporated into the draft Bill before the Bill was published for public comment. It is believed that this will eliminate double work in the later part of the process of finalising the Bill.
If the Department is able to finalise the above-mentioned processes, as well as the processes required for the introduction of the Bill, I still intend to introduce the Bill during the 2016 parliamentary session. However, if I do not achieve this, I intend to introduce the Bill during the early part of the 2017 Parliamentary session.