14/10/2023
🔥 Good news 🔥
The *Dear SA* campaign will be going live again shortly.
https://dearsouthafrica.co.za/bela-bill-2022/
Please add your detailed, heartfelt and succinct submissions.
Succinct does not necessarily mean "short". It means that you are not repeating yourself unnecessarily and it means that you say exactly what you mean.
[email protected]
Please contact the Homeschool Association SA (HSSA) if you need any support in this regard. We will not be providing templates or writing your submissions for you, but we are here to listen and support you in your decision.
NOTE: you are welcome to agree with the Bill in its totality if that is what you prefer. There is no judgement wrt your choice because its YOUR choice.
We speak about rejecting the bill because the majority of homeschoolers hold this opinion.
📌 After you have constructed your submission, put it aside for a day and read it again the next day.
You will find ways to say something in a more simplified way, that uses words that aren't too difficult for others to follow and that also pin down your points after your mind has has some time to process the evocation of feelings writing sometimes elicits.
📌 Try not to bring up the mistakes and crimes of our government in your submissions, unless of course that is your point!
📌 Remember, this submission is what YOU believe the clauses mean, but at the same time, for parliament to be able to deliberate your points, you need to SHOW how that is reasonable, given the information at hand. In other words, you need to show why you came to your conclusions about how the Bill will impact your children's lives and the future of education in South Africa.
📌 If you use information that is not pertinent to the Basic Education Law Act (and the other acts this Bill ammends), or law making and the interpretation of the law, but rely on your imagination *without something to reference* other than your ideas, then your submission will have less impact.
📌 At the same time, you are also free to reject the bill and say that you have given sufficient evidence and submissions in the past and that you don't trust Parliament to consider your motivation and simply want to add your "vote" against it. Because the Dear SA campaign is delivered to parliament and a record is kept of the numbers of yay and nay votes, it is possible for you to simply say "NO, because I say so". You do not have to actively defend your stance because it's simply your right to vote against something.
📌 Another thing - It turns out that a partial rejection or "in part" rejection may be bundled together with the "accepted" votes for the amendment. While the committee may give the detailed numbers of 'for/against/partial, when it comes to considering the tally, I keep seeing the "partial" votes becoming part of the "for" batch. 🤔
I wish I had noticed this earlier, as I have submitted a partial vote in the past (because I agree with some of the educational reform.) This was naive on my part and I have since changed the way I word my submissions now, and focus only on rejection because it is possible to rework the bill later and include aspects of the previous draft, but it's NOT going to be possible to recind anything in the bill once the President signs it.
📌 Speaking of our President. Given his actions and choice of words in many instances of leadership this year, I don't believe we have ANY hope of petitioning him in the event the bill lands on his desk.
LET US MAKE AN INTERVENTION NOW.
We have this ONE last chance.
📌 If the homeschooling community put their backs into this campaign like they did with petitions in the last 2 months, we will overwhelm Parliament with a resounding "NO" to the BELA-BILL.
‼️ According to our cumulative research, we have found that we can overturn this if we get 100k submissions in a short period of only 30 days ‼️
Such a response is needed in a legitimate public participation process to FORCE parliament to take note of the rejection of the bill.
Please share this with absolutely everyone who has a child, who plans to have a child and who is interested in preserving the freedom to choose whatever educational options and opportunities they deem fit. Please also remind public and private schools that recieve any financial assistance or repreve from government, that the BELA-BILL will also impact their schools and teachers.
This is about all of us.
Yours in Homeschooling
Rebekka Liebenberg
*Homeschool Association SA*
[email protected]
0832050004
The Bill proposes to amend the SA Schools Act, and Employment of Educators Act so as to align with developments in the education landscape
