National Education Policy Act, 1996 (Act No. 27 of 1996) Policies Policy On Learner Attendance A. Definitions and Acronyms

 

In this policy—

 

'absent'

means absent as contemplated in paragraph 12;

 

'admission'

means admission of a learner to a school, and has the same meaning as 'enrolment' (verb);

 

'AIDS'

means Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome;

 

'CEM'

means Council of Education Ministers;

 

'child support grant'

means the monthly grant paid to a child's primary care giver by the South African Social Security Agency to provide for a child's basic needs;

 

'circuit'

means education circuit, which is an administrative sub-unit of a district;

 

'circuit manager'

means head of a circuit office;

 

'class'

means a group of learners who are under the administrative supervision of a class teacher;

 

'class register'

means an official document, which may be an electronic document, in which the attendance of learners in a class is recorded each school day;

 

'class registration period'

means a period on a school timetable not exceeding 10 minutes when the class register is marked;

 

'class teacher'

means a teacher to whom the principal has allocated administrative responsibility for a class for a school year;

 

'code of conduct'

means the code of conduct for learners contemplated in section 8 of SASA;

 

'compulsory school-going age'

means the age range contemplated in section 3(1) of SASA, namely from the first school day of the year in which a learner turns seven until the last school day of the year in which the learner turns 15 or the ninth grade, whichever occurs first;

 

'continuous absence'

means absence of a learner from school for 10 consecutive school days without valid reason;

 

'district'

means education district, which is an administrative sub-unit of a PED;

 

'district manager'

means head of a district office;

 

'DBE'

means national Department of Basic Education;

 

'educator'

means an educator in terms of the Employment of Educators Act, 1998 (Act 76 of 1998);

 

'electronic administration system'

means SA-SAMS or a similar electronic system for school administration and management;

 

'enrolment'

(verb) means admission of a learner to a school;

 

'enrolment'

(noun) the number of learners enrolled in a class or at a school;

 

'exemption'

means exemption of a learner from compulsory school attendance in terms of section 4(1) of SASA;

 

'expulsion'

means expulsion of a learner from a school in terms of section 9(10) of SASA;

 

'HIV'

means Human Immunodeficiency Virus;

 

'HOD'

means head of a provincial education department;

 

'home education'

means home education as contemplated in section 51 of SASA;

 

'instructional period'

means a period allocated for instruction in a subject or learning area;

 

'learner'

means any person receiving education or obliged to receive education in terms of SASA;

 

'learner absentee day'

means a school day on which a learner is marked absent in the class register;

 

'National School Calendar Policy'

means National Policy for Designing School Calendar for Ordinary Public Schools in South Africa (General Notice 207 of 2000, published in Government Gazette No. 20945 of 1 March 2000);

 

'NEPA'

means National Education Policy Act, 1996 (Act 27 of 1996);

 

'NSC'

means National Senior Certificate;

 

'PAM'

means Personnel Administration Measures published as Government Notice 222 of 1999 (Government Gazette No. 19767 of 18 February 1999).

 

'parent'

means

 

'PED'

means provincial education department and includes a district office;

 

'period'

means the time allocated on a school timetable for instruction in a subject or learning area, or for class registration;

 

'period register'

means an official document in which the attendance of learners in an instructional period is recorded;

 

'principal'

means an educator appointed or acting as head of a school;

 

'register'

means a class register or a period register;

 

'RCL'

means representative council of learners;

 

'SASA'

means the South African Schools Act, 1996 (Act 84 of 1996);

 

'SA-SAMS'

means South African School Administration and Management System;

 

'school'

means public school;

 

'school activity'

means an official educational, cultural, recreational or social activity of a school within or outside the school premises;

 

'school day'

means a day in a school year;

 

'school office'

means the administrative office of the school, which may be the principal's office;

 

'school year'

means the dates specified by the Minister of Basic Education in the school calendar for ordinary public schools;

 

'SGB'

means school governing body;

 

'SMT'

means school management team;

 

'staff’

means the management staff or teaching staff of a school;

 

'suspension'

means suspension of a learner from attendance at school in terms of section 9(1) of SASA;

 

'teacher'

means a school-based educator engaged in general classroom teaching, as described in ELRC Collective Agreement 1of 2008;

 

'temporary class register'

means a register maintained by a class teacher for no more than 10 consecutive school days from the first day of the first term of the school year;

 

'temporary school closure'

means temporary closure of a school during the school year by the HOD in terms of section 16( 4)(b) of SASA or by the SGB in terms of the National School Calendar Policy; and

 

'valid reason'

means a valid reason for a learner to be absent from school as contemplated in paragraph 13 of this policy.