NEWS UPDATE: Coalition of Religious Leaders Meet with DBE

COALITION OF RELIGIOUS LEADERS MEET THE DEPARTMENT OF BASIC EDUCATION TO DISCUSS CONCERNS

A coalition of religious, cultural and educational groups (including the United Ulama Council of South Africa (UUCSA), the South African Community of Faith-Based Fraternals and Federations (SACOFF), Inkululeko Yesizwe Association, and the Evangelical Alliance of South Africa (TEASA)) representing over 20 million members of diverse faith communities met with the Department of Basic Education (DBE) in Pretoria on Tuesday 5 December 2023. The meeting was called to engage with the DBE on deeply held concerns by the coalition that the DBE was not fulfilling its constitutional responsibility and obligation to ensure that all the rights of parents, children, educators and SGBs are protected and respected, particularly in the area of early childhood education (ECE). The coalition invited Freedom of Religion South Africa (FOR SA) to provide a summary of the framework of South African and international law that protects religious freedom and parental rights in the education sector.

The coalition presented a Comprehensive Position Paper, highlighting the marginalising and overriding of parental rights in the education of their children. The Paper focussed on ECE, challenging the DBE’s evident bias in training teachers to present ideologies to children at a highly impressionable age, that are foreign to the widely held religious, spirituality, and cultural beliefs of the coalition. It questioned whether School Governing Bodies (SGBs), who have the right and authority to reflect the spirituality, culture, values and faith of the local public school community, had been adequately consulted by the DBE in these matters. It insisted that the religious rights of educators, who are being trained to present this ideological bias to young learners, must also be upheld. Imraan Subrathie, a representative of UUCSA, who led the Coalition in this discussion, praised the constitutional democracy of South Africa, that allowed the parties to engage in such openness.

The engagement was seen as positive by both the DBE and the coalition representatives. DBE gave the assurance that they received the Comprehensive Position Paper with appreciation and that they took seriously the concerns expressed in this document. DBE committed to revert to the coalition with their response and to engage in further constructive dialogue. Subrathie emphasised that the circumstances and topic under discussion were “extraordinary” in nature and requested the DBE to deploy “extraordinary” resources and urgency so that follow-up engagements can take place soonest in preparation for the 2024 academic year. The coalition is optimistic that through open discussions with DBE, a “win-win” outcome can be found.