–– Gideon Mpeni

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Parental authority in training and bringing up their children has faced attacks in most parts of the Western world, yet we are now beginning to see this tidal wave on the family hitting the shores of Africa. The recent developments in Sub-Saharan Africa, rise from the famously named ‘mother city’, Cape Town, South Africa. 

On the 26th of September, the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education in the South African Parliament  adopted the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill, otherwise known as the BELA Bill, in which parents can face 12-month jail sentences if their children of school age are not enrolled. This bill also introduces a ban on corporal punishment. These are not mere attempts to cater for the well-being of the children but rather rules aimed at controlling the parents and stripping them of their God-given responsibilities.

Let us examine the Realities on the ground. We must have a clearly laid out view that no academic curriculum is ‘a-theological’, because any form of teaching or philosophy will find answers either in man or in God. Most postmodern institutions have based their curricula on the philosophies and doctrines of the British biologist, Dawkins 3, who claimed “that atheism was the only possible position for educated men and women and that religion, in all its forms, was little more than dangerous and delusional superstition.” 

So, given the BELA Bill, it is evident to see that, as Dr Al Mohler puts it,

“…the ideological revolution has been even more damaging than the political change. Those who set educational policy are now overwhelmingly committed to a radically naturalistic and evolutionistic worldview that sees the schools as engines of social revolution. The classrooms are being transformed rapidly into laboratories for ideological experimentation and indoctrination carried out for over 25 hours each week.”

Sadly, the disciples of these philosophies are creators and custodians of curricula at all levels, from ECDs to Senior and FET phases. Professors who have followed this include Philip Higgs and Jane Smith, who have stated the following “we can now all relax, confident in the knowledge that there is no God.” You see this philosophy is teaching that man is the measure of all things, R.C. Sproul summarised it well when he spoke on their ideology about man as “the ultimate, autonomous norm; that is, he is a law unto himself. His reason, not subservient to divine revelation”.

Will this kind of teaching shape a people who will live their lives for the glory of God (1 Cor.10:31) or are we not raising another Nimrod generation, wanting to make a name for themselves? (Genesis 11). Consider this, ‘Can one expect a prostitute to give teachings on how to live a moral life?’ or ‘Would one seek a thief to teach about what it means to be content as opposed to covetous?’. 

To be clear, I am not so much against the fact that we have to send our children to school, yet we must ask, ‘to what kind of school are we sending this African child and what is the content of the curriculum that will shape his mind and life in general?’ Neither do I promote that the children should be abused, all parents are commanded in Ephesians 6:4 not “to provoke their children to anger.” 

What we are yet to witness is the outcome of this Bill in secularising schools in a way that will alienate children from their communities and families. We must not be surprised in the days ahead if schools become arenas of endless litigation as has been the case in the United States of America. So when we consider sending our children to these public schools, I implore you once again to heed the counsel of Al Mohler, when he says that

“…public schools are not designed to help kids grow in godliness. Depending on the school and their peers, a Christian child’s very soul may be tested…We are sending them into battle, and we are committing ourselves to battle as well.”

Whose responsibility is it anyway? I agree that the government is mandated to protect its citizens (Romans 13:1-8), however with the BELA bill the government is stepping into the sphere that is not in its domain. Parents are entrusted with the responsibilities of both training and disciplining their children and this most critical charge cannot be delegated (Deut. 6:1-26; Ephesians 6:1-4). All parents must know that God will hold them accountable for the decisions made about their children as well as the context and content of their education.

The Church must now more than ever rise and take part in combating the secular humanistic worldviews by developing curricula on all academic levels that have a Biblical Worldview, praying for and participating in the establishing of local schools on all levels that will play a missional role in their God-ordained communities as they evangelise and disciple all nations. (Matthew 28:18-20).