Home-schooling in South Africa

Home-schooling in South Africa 

Introduction

So many in our society act like attending public school is a rite of passage. John Taylor Gatto believes there is a better way. Gatto states that “home education is the best option for creating independent thinkers and nurturing their natural talents and interests” (Nancy Carter, 2010). Home 'schooling' is not so much about schooling as about home educating your own children (Home-schooling Curriculum Guide. 2017: online). I will conceptualize home-schooling, and then briefly discuss the concept in the South African context. I will furthermore look at the legislative prescriptions with regards to home-schooling in South Africa, as derived from the South African Schools Act. I will then briefly discuss home-schooling in the US and lastly, look at the South African government’s increasing hostility against homeschooling as an alternative for the failing public school system in South Africa.

What is homeschooling?

A home school is a school where parents teach their children an academic curriculum at home instead of sending them out to a public or private school. Home-schooling is legal throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand, North America, Hong Kong, and South Africa (Rouse, 2005: online). Home-schooling in South Africa is the same concept as used internationally (Home-schooling Curriculum Guide. 2017: online). “We have grown up with schooling and education meaning two different things. ‘Schooling was done at a school away from home and education was done at home. In reality, home-schooling is about integrating the two, and maybe the word is a misnomer”. The truth is that when you home-school you educate and every time you educate you are ‘schooling’ (Home-schooling Curriculum Guide. 2017: online).

Home-schooling in South Africa

Home-schooling in South Africa is a fast growing market at about 20% per year, and is growing in its popularity. The number of home-schoolers in South Africa is currently about 400 000 learners. Many media reports state that the education system in South Africa is not improving. In fact, Google Trends indicate that South Africa conducts the second largest number of searches on Google using the keyword ‘home-schooling’ (Home-schooling Curriculum Guide. 2017: online). This is because parents are seeking an alternative to the increasingly failing public school system. Not all parents in South Africa can afford posh private schools. Parents in SA are thus faced with a difficult decision whether to keep or to put their children in schools, or to home-school. The reality is that parents do have an affordable choice in the matter of their children’s education.

De Waal & Bester states that parents in South Africa who choose to home educate their children, do so for similar reasons as parents in the US. Reasons, why parents are choosing home education above schooling, include: dissatisfaction with the quality of Education provided at schools and concerns about the school environment, such as safety, drugs and peer pressure (Home-schooling Curriculum Guide. 2017: online). The growing consensus in South Africa is that public schools are not functioning effectively. This is unfortunately not unique to South Africa. Worldwide, the consensus is growing that public schools fail to provide mature adults who can function effectively and be economically active in the real world of work (Home-schooling Curriculum Guide. 2017: online). Parents, who have lost trust in the public school system, and who cannot afford private schools, opt for home education. Home education produces better-matured adults, because they are educated in a safer environment with people with whom they have a personal relationship and whom they can trust (Home-schooling Curriculum Guide. 2017: online).

Homeschooling

Home-schooling legal prescriptions in South Africa

Since the end of 1996 homeschooling has been provided for by South African law. Home-schooling was incorporated into the South African Schools Act (SASA) of 1996. However, it took a huge battle in Parliament and only after external political pressure by the Home School Legal Defence Association of the US, to legalize it in South Africa (Home-schooling Curriculum Guide. 2017: online).

Section 3 of the South African Schools Act states that ‘every parent must cause every learner for whom he or she is responsible to attend a school from the first school day of the year in which such learner reaches the age of seven years until the last school day of the year in which such learner reaches the age of fifteen years or the ninth grade, whichever occurs first’. There are however three exceptions to this rule, namely: 1) If exemption from compulsory attendance is in the best interest of the learner (Section 4 of SASA); 2) if the parent has just cause not to send the learner to school; and 3) if a parent wants to home school his or her child (Section 51 of SASA).

Section 51 of the South African Schools Act states that a parent may apply to the Head of Department of a relevant Provincial Department of Education, for the registration of a learner to receive education at the learner’s home. The Head of Department must register a learner if he or she is satisfied that: (a) the registration is in the interests of the learner; (b) the education likely to be received by the learner at home— (i) will meet the minimum requirements of the curriculum at public schools; and (ii) will be of a standard not inferior to the standard of education provided at public schools; and (c) the parent will comply with any other reasonable conditions set by the Head of Department.

Section 51 dictates that parents apply to the head of their relevant Provincial Education Department to register their child/(dren) for homeschooling, if they prefer to teach their child/(dren) at home. They have a choice whether they want to teach the child/ (dren) themselves or whether they want to hire a tutor. Lessons offered must, however, fall within the scope of the following compulsory phases of education, namely: the foundation phase (grades 1 - 3); the intermediate phase (grades 4 - 6); the senior phase (grades 7 - 9) (Department of basic education, 2017: online).

The application for home education to the relevant head of the Provincial Education Department must be accompanied by the following documents: parent/s Identity Document and a certified copy of the ID; last copy of school report (if the child was in school before, but if the child is only starting school an immunization card is required); a weekly timetable which includes contact time per day; breakdown of terms per year (196 days per year); a learning programme; and a certified copy of the child’s birth certificate. It may take up to 30 days for applications to be processed. The good news is that the service is free (Department of basic education, 2017: online).

Parents are, after successful application and registration for home education, obligated to keep the following: a record of attendance; a portfolio of the child’s work; up- to- date records of the child’s progress; a portfolio of the educational support given to the child; evidence of the continuous assessment of the child’s work; evidence of the assessment and or examination at the end of each year; and evidence at the end of grade 3,6 and 9, that shows whether the child has achieved the outcomes for these grades (Department of basic education, 2017: online). It thus requires a firm commitment from parents. The dilemma is in our current economy is that both parents must work to keep the pot cooking. If parents cannot afford a tutor, where do they get the time and energy to take charge of the child’s learning?

SASA - Education law

Home-schooling in the US

Home-schooling in the US has grown with 75% over the last 14 years. In 2011, there were already 2.3 million homeschoolers in the US (Home-schooling Curriculum Guide. 2017: online). Homeschooling education models in the US range from unschooling to Traditional classroom schooling. Unschooling is based on interest-based learning, where and when a child expresses interest in a particular subject, the parents take steps to provide the materials for that subject. The traditional setting, in which the children are taught subjects such as Math, Reading, History, Science, Grammar, and Spelling within a structured schedule created by the parents, seems, however, to be preferred by most parents (Wilson, 2005: online).

Home school families in the US furthermore take advantage of technology to supplement traditional teaching. Many educational software packages exist on the market, and is able to enhance the curriculum and provide variety. The Internet, in addition, serves as a useful tool and is literally brimming with educational ideas and resources. Online libraries, dictionaries, museums, and encyclopedias are tools that can far outshine classroom materials. Some home school families even enroll their children in an online school or course as a supplement to their own teaching (Wilson, 2005: online). In this digital age, South African homeschooling families have these resources and tools to their disposal. Traditional schools who do not have these digital platforms, cannot compete with homeschool families who possess access to these tools.

Resistance from Government

The Gauteng Education MEC, Panyaza Lesufi, stated on the 27^th of March 2017 that there's a sudden increase in homeschooling in the province, which needs to be reviewed. The reasons that he provides for this sudden increase is that parents do not want their children to integrate with broader society and mix with other children, and that parents want to replace teachers (van der Eems, 2017: online). In defense of these statements, Bouwe van der Eems of the South African Association of Home-schooling, states that it is not possible to verify whether there was indeed a recent sudden increase, since no reliable source of statistics on homeschooling exists. He states (2017: online) if there was a sudden increase, the most probable explanation would be that many families were forced to choose home education, because thousands of children could not be placed in schools at the start of 2017. 

Van der Eems (2017: online) furthermore states that no research indicates that there is a significant number of parents that choose home education for the reasons provided by Lesufi. “There is even less reason to believe that this could cause a sudden increase in home education. There is also no reason to believe that parents are motivated to replace teachers. Motivations for home education all have to do with the interests of children and not with the teachers. On the contrary, home learners make extensive use of teachers. They make use of the services of the best teachers in the world for free, through websites such as the Khan Academy. The advantage of these online teachers is that learners can pause, rewind, forward and repeat these teachers as much as is needed to master a certain lesson or skill” (van der Eems, 2017: online).

Conclusion

Homeschooling is growing in its popularity in South Africa, due to a failing public school system that cannot provide quality education, nor a safe learning environment. South African law does provide for a legal option to home educate instead of schooling. It seems that the government is getting concerned over the fact that parents who are able, now prefer home-schooling their children. It is a lack of trust in South Africa’s education system, which has led to the homeschooling movement in South Africa. If we want a mature and effective workforce that will put South Africa back on the map, the government must rather support home-schooling, instead of criticism and attempting to stifle it. The question remains: What other alternatives do we have?

The 'Home' classroom

Bibliography

De Waal E & Bester, E. Education options for you children. Taalgenoot magazine. Available at: http://www.homeschooling-curriculum-guide.com/homeschooling-South-Africa.html[Accessed on 22 April, 2017]

Department of Basic Education. 2017. Home Education. Available at: http://www.education.gov.za/Parents/HomeSchooling/tabid/406/Default.aspx[Accessed on 22 April, 2017]

Home-schooling Curriculum Guide. 2017. Home-schooling in South Africa the better choice. Available at: http://www.homeschooling-curriculum-guide.com/homeschooling-South-Africa.html[Accessed on 22 April, 2017]

Home-schooling Curriculum Guide. 2017. Introducing home schooling - the more excellent way. Available at: http://www.homeschooling-curriculum-guide.com/homeschooling-information.html[Accessed on 22 April, 2017]

The South African Schools Act 84 of 1996. Available at: http://www.education.gov.za/Resources/Legislation/Acts.aspx[Accessed on 22 April, 2017]

Van der Eems, B. 2017. Gauteng Education MEC wants to review home education. Available at: http://www.sahomeschoolers.org/entry/gauteng-education-mec-wants-to-review-home-education.html[Accessed on 22 April, 2017]

Wilson, S. 2005. Home school. Available at: http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/home-school[Accessed on 22 April, 2017]