Basil Manuel | Executive Director of Naptosa  

The National Assembly has adopted and passed the amended Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill, sending it off to the desk of President Cyril Ramaphosa to be signed into law.

The NA passed the bill after it was adopted by the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education on Wednesday (15 May), accepting the amendments made at the National Council of Provinces.

The NCOP adopted the bill on Tuesday (14 May) after deferring the bill last week on a technicality.

The passed bill, the amended D-bill, was adopted by all provinces except the Western Cape.

Several key issues were raised in the processing of the bill by the provinces—particularly around language and admission policies—which led to further amendments to the laws by the Select Committee on Education and Technology, Sport, Arts and Culture.

This resulted in the D-bill, which has now been passed by the National Assembly and sent to Ramaphosa for assent.