Picture: The Chairperson of the Select Committee, Makhi Feni

By OBAKENG MAJE

21 December 2025- The Select Committee on Education, Sciences and Creative Industries has called on the Department of Basic Education to ensure that the continued integration of Grade R into the schooling system does not disrupt learning. The committee said the Department of Basic Education now requires all Grade R teachers to hold a diploma or degree qualification under the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act that was signed last year into law.

The Chairperson of the Select Committee, Makhi Feni said the reported qualifications requirement from people who had been with the ECD for over 30 years has a potential to disrupt not only learning, but labour peace. Feni said that would be an antithesis of the intentions of migrating the ECD functions into the department.

“It would be ideal to first ensure success in implementing the migration and the needs of our children within a school set up. Qualifications are a good thing to have, but we cannot in a space of a year be making such statements that threaten to collapse an entire sector. Government leaders must be responsible in how they implement policies.

“In line with the BELA Act, ECD educators are reportedly required to have at least a diploma from 2026, something which some educators especially the experienced ones had not been adequately prepared for. The committee in its recent oversight visit to the Amathole West District and Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape found many infrastructure challenges related to the ECD function, including schools like Bodiam Primary School where our children are accommodated in zinc structure,” he said.

Feni further said the schools hardly have kitchens to prepare good nutritious foods for these kids, and most lack friendly sanitation and facilities for kids. He added that this demand for qualifications will disrupt education and there has to be a rethink and a halt.

“We proposed timeframes that will allow educators to acquire the qualifications. The committee will attend to this matter when it returns from the December recess,” said Feni.

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By REGINALD KANYANE

29 September 2025 – The Select Committee on Education, Science and the Creative Industries has expressed alarm about allegations that educators impregnated learners and paid them for termination. The committee said it was concerning that so many alleged incidents of sexual violations of learners are being discussed in retrospect on social media platforms.

The Chairperson of the Committee, Makhi Feni, condemned these alleged incidents and called on professional bodies to follow up and act accordingly. Feni said learners who have been violated in this manner must come forward and report these incidents to the police.

“South Africa’s legislative framework criminalises this act, and so does the Code of Conduct for Educators. We are shocked by the revelations on social media, and so many women are attesting to such statements. That calls for a proper investigation and appropriate sanction, even if it is retrospective. Educators cannot feast on our children when we’ve entrusted them with custodianship.

“Allegations had surfaced pointing to what appears to be a pervasive silent culture in Eastern Cape schools. Several women came out in support and even alleged that it has become “normal practice” for educators to pay learners to terminate pregnancies,” he said.

Feni further calls on the South African Council for Educators to follow up on the alleged incidents, where schools and suspected educators had been named. He added that they call on learners and parents to come forward and report these alleged incidents, even if they were approached as relationships.

“Sleeping with learners is wholly inappropriate and despicable. We, therefore, frown upon such acts. All educators have a parental responsibility when children are in their care,” said Feni.

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By KEDIBONE MOLAETSI

7 July 2025 – The Select Committee on Education, Sciences and the Creative Industries has called for coordination of resources in order to maximise the impact Early Childhood Development (ECD) have in society. The committee said the ECD centres are an empowerment tool whose role and importance should never be forsaken.

The Chairperson of the Committee, Makhi Feni said: “It is really concerning to the committee that we read of challenges besieging the ECD sector when we had just transferred the function to the Department of Basic Education (DBE).

“Surely, our portfolio will not and must not fail our children, as there was a reason to migrate the function to education. This is a function that requires everyone and any help with regards to the welfare and foundation phase education of our children.”

Feni further said they are building a nation and their actions including the budget allocated for this specific function must support that. He added that weekend reports indicated that several ECD centres and some attached to schools, struggled with basic necessities like water, sanitation and food items, especially in the rural Limpopo and the Eastern Cape.

“The committee would love to receive an update briefing on empirical and manifest challenges since the migration of the function to the DBE. We do not want a system that breaks our children and their early educators either through budget constraints or infrastructure.

“We call on the minister and the provincial MECs to prioritise the work around ECD centres. These are areas where our children spend the longest time without parental supervision and outside their homes. The committee also noted the challenges around payment of student teachers and tutors in Quintile One schools,” said Feni.

He said they accepted the fiscal constrained environment the DBE operated in. Feni said, but they do not want the challenges to become a phenomenon.

“The DBE must attend to this matter urgently wherever it is manifest. Salaries of teachers are a no-go area for cuts and hiccups. These are meagre salaries and it is not as if these teachers are paid millions.

“The committee’s interest was a functional system where all parents see value and trust that their children will turn out responsible and accountable young adults whose skills will be relevant to a 21st Century economy,” he said.

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By KEDIBONE MOLAETSI

3 July 2025 – The Select Committee on Education, Sciences and the Creative Industries said it has learnt with shock of the deaths that occurred following a “pens-down” party in East London. The committee sends its deepest and heartfelt condolences to the families of the deceased and wishes a speedy recovery to the injured.

Two people were reported dead and seven others were injured on the weekend following what seems to be a deliberate attack on party revellers in Nompumelelo Township, outside East London. A group of local young men, suspected to be a gang, gatecrashed a “pens-down” party and started attacking those at the tavern.

The Chairperson of the Committee, Maki Feni said the incident, the second in a short space of time in the same area, calls for parental guidance and serious reflection on situations in which learners have free access to alcohol. Feni said it is sad that fatal alcohol-related incidents that often involve learners are becoming a common but worrying occurrence in the country.

“Social gatherings where learners are allowed to use alcohol should be criminalised. The violence that characterises our society is condemned. Society must not tire in condemning the pens-down culture.

“This is so reminiscent of the recent Enyobeni incident, which was the subject of an inquiry, that resulted in the deaths of 21 learners in the same vicinity. We condemn these actions, whether learners were involved or not; law enforcement must also leave no stone unturned in this,” he said.

Feni said the Eastern Cape Department of Education must assist and determine if any learner had been affected by the incident and provide the necessary support.

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