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]

The Education crisis in South Africa and solutions

The condition of Education in South Africa

A prognosis

The quality of education has regressed over the last 20 years to such an extent where we have the worst Education system and quality of Education in Africa. Census data indicates that only an estimated 48% of students who begin Grade 1 actually complete Grade 12, with most learners dropping out of school in Grade 10 and 11. According to Teachers and university professors are pass rates of 30% to 40% just too low to be of any value, globally. The national pass rate at South African state schools declined to 70.7% in 2015 (BusinessTech, 2016: online). 

Zimbabwe with its unstable socio-economic and political status is ranked number 1 in Africa. How is it possible that Zimbabwe with its limited resources and unstable economic environment can outshine a so-called economic African powerhouse? Apart from the OBE curriculum policy borrowing from Australia, by the post-Apartheid government, which is intended for adult workplace skills training, and making it applicable to school education in SA, what else has gone wrong? What is the condition of education in South Africa today?

1. Lack of teacher training colleges & quality of teacher training.

The Post-Apartheid government in its wisdom decided to close all teacher training colleges, leaving the training of teachers to pure academic institutions such as universities. Universities “do not focus on the real issue, which is pedagogy, but more on the knowledge or the theory” (Maluleke, 2015: online). South Africa has a limited amount of universities, who could not carry the demand for teacher training. This leads to under-trained or even untrained teachers, especially in rural areas. The government claims that a “teacher shortage no longer exists as a result of the collaborative efforts that the government and other stakeholders have put into expanding teacher education capacity in the country. The size of teacher education in the country is now appropriate to meet its needs” (Parker, 2015: online).

However, The Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE) released a report after conducting a quantitative study, which pointed out the following: 1. The major cause of inadequate learner achievement, is the poor subject content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge of most South African teachers; and 2. Teacher training, conducted at Higher Education Institutions is inadequate and that teachers lack essential knowledge and skills. This conclusion was also reached in a recent study by the Initial Teacher Education Research Project, an initiative of JET Education Services in collaboration with the Education Deans’ Forum and the departments of Basic Education and Higher Education and Training. “The cause of poor performance, by and large, lies not with teachers but with the teacher education system that produced them,” said the study (Nkosi, M & G, 2015: online).

2. Underpaid teachers.

National Teachers’ Union spokesman, Allen Thompson, said teachers clash with the DoE every year over poor pay. There are about 400 000 individuals nationally who work as teachers or contribute to teaching, who has to support more than 12 million pupils. A teacher with a three-year qualification takes home an annual salary of about R 155 298, while those with four-year qualifications earn about R 211 617 a year. Thompson said that it is hard for teachers to make ends meet. Senior teachers are underpaid and teachers resign because they cannot survive their lifestyle as they swim in debt. “Being an educator in South Africa means you have chosen a poor career” (Pasiya & Mtshali, in IOL news, 2016: online).

Overworked & underpaid teachers

3. Overworked teachers.

What do the teachers say about their workload? A Guardian & Mail survey conducted last year revealed the following: Of the 4,450 respondents to the Guardian teacher network and Guardian jobs survey about teachers’ lives, 82% stated that their workload was unmanageable, with two-thirds saying that expectations had increased significantly over the past five years. Furthermore, 73% of respondents said their workload was affecting their physical health and 76% their mental health. Almost a third of teachers reported that they worked more than 60 hours a week. One in five teachers said they intended to leave the profession because they felt overworked. A further 36% of teachers said they “agreed somewhat” that they wanted to leave teaching for this reason (Guardian Teacher Network, 2016: online). Julian Stanley, CEO of ESP (Education Support Partnership), states that: “Teachers have no time left for reflection. There’s more attention than ever before on children’s mental health, but there needs to be this level of support for teachers too. For many, it’s hard to reveal they’re dealing with anxiety or depression” (Guardian Teacher Network, 2016: online). 

We lose good teachers to the Private sector and the education sectors abroad, especially the Middle-East who reward teachers for their effort and who do not overwork them. South African teachers are well sought after by the education sectors of other countries because of their ability to work hard, their work ethic and because they are less inclined to complain. Is it surprising though? SA teachers are brainwashed to think that it is normal to work 60 hours plus a week, to get a slave wage for it and to lose their health in the process. In KZN, for example, there are severe teacher shortages, especially in specialist subjects like science in rural areas. Teachers end up teaching subjects they have not specialized in and they are faced with multi-grading at some schools with small enrollments of about 20 to 30 pupils. Often just two teachers have to teach all pupils - from Grade R to Grade 7 (Pasiya & Mtshali, in IOL news, 2016: online).

4. Teacher bullying?

According to a study by the University of the Free State's Education faculty, is the bullying of teachers by other teachers a serious problem. A sample size of 2700 teachers, at all school levels in urban, township, informal settlements, rural and farm schools, were asked to complete a survey. The study found that about 90% of the respondents were victims of workplace bullying (WPB) by school colleagues and school management during the 12 months prior to the study. The bullying acts included direct shunning, untrue things said about them, verbal abuse, threats and ridicule, insults and teasing, damaging of possessions, as well as physical violence. Research on WPB in occupations identified teaching as a high-risk job (De Wet, in Health24, 2014: online).

5. Toxic school environment

"South African teachers are working in toxic environments characterized by disgruntled, overworked and stressed teachers" (Jacobs, in Health24, 2014: online).  Jacobs said that teachers worked in "toxic" environments characterized by high levels of pupil-on-pupil and pupil-on-teacher violence and bullying. Some school communities were also fraught with moral degradation, racial conflict, violence, lawlessness, and economic despair. "In schools where despair and disrespect prevail, teachers often turn on one another" (Jacobs, in Health24, 2014: online). The report suggested that teachers were emotionally destroying one another, rather than collaborating for the greater good. (Health24, 2014: online).

6. Teacher per child ratio and oversized classes.

The maximum teacher to child ratio in Britain is 1:30. The DoE has aimed for this standard since 1994, but has failed. In South Africa, applies this ratio only to either expensive private schools or Quintile 4 & 5 public schools. South Africa’s largest private schools operator, Curro Holdings, has approximately one teacher for every 15 pupils across its network of 110 schools (BusinessTech, 2016: online). The school fees for private schools range between R 50 000 – R 254 000 per annum (Hilton College). Paying a quarter million Rand per annum for school fees alone. That is more than what most teachers earn in a year. Realistically, how many parents in SA can afford these fees? How many school teachers can enroll their own children into these schools? The problem is that these schools are a drop in the bucket compared to the thousands of poor public and rural no-fee schools that make up the majority of schools in South Africa. Private schools still only make up less than 5% of all schools in South Africa, with just over 500,000 students enrolled out of a total learner population of 12.4 million (BusinessTech, 2016: online). It’s not unheard of that some teachers have 60 pupils in their classroom. This state of affairs is severely unmanageable and the quality of education that occurs within that setting is highly questionable.

High teacher per learner ratio

7. Corruption within the DoE and schools & the misappropriation of funds.

According to a report by Corruption Watch, a civil society watchdog, are school principals the main culprits of corruption in schools, with embezzlement of school funds the most common illegal practice (Roane, 2013: online). The misuse of school funds or assets, favouritism in the appointment of staff (including the appointment of unqualified teachers to posts) and corruption in the procurement processes by school governing bodies, are among some of the complaints reported to the EELC (Equal Education Law Centre, a public interest law firm, supporting struggles for equality and equity in the education system) (Rinquest, 2015: online). 

The Corruption Watch report furthermore reveals that corruption in the education sector extends beyond the scope of schools alone, it also involves corruption in Provincial Education Departments, Higher Education Institutions and Further Education Institutions. (Roane, 2013: online). This culture of corruption also seeps through to learners, with the National Senior Certificate results often being overshadowed by allegations of bribery by students in some provinces. Allegations of corruption in the Eastern Cape Department of Education, in particular, are infamous. There are reports of a lack of post provisioning in poor, rural schools and a shortage of resources to provide for the needs of learners. Recently, whistle-blowers and teacher organizations in the Queenstown District have even complained of theft and corruption in the administration of the School Nutrition Programme (Rinquest, 2015: online). 

What is the cure for the ailments of the South African education system?

More parents are seeking better education alternatives for their children as the country’s basic education system ranks among the worst in the world. In South Africa, there is a booming Home-Schooling movement to address these problems. Parents have lost their trust in the public school system by large. Those who have a choice due to financial means enroll their children in private schools. Those who do not, try a middle ground, home-schooling, an improvement on the public school system. There are many arguments for home-schooling. In my opinion, Homeschooling excludes children from the necessary social development they can only acquire through being part of a school community. There are however community home-schools where there are enough children to provide this social nurturing. These community schools are most probably the perfect hybrid between individual homeschooling and a normal school set-up. Social interaction and nurturing may continue whilst high academic standards may be controlled and maintained. The question is where does tutoring fit in?

Tutoring as a solution

Home schools actually use the terminology ‘tutoring’ instead of teaching. Simply because class sizes are very small and the traditional role of the teacher teaching is altered to a teacher being more of a facilitator who has to guide and assist the learner, who has to take charge of his or her own learning.

Tutoring in the traditional sense is a one-on-one session between a tutor (a subject matter expert) and a learner/student/adult who either needs extra help with a subject, because he or she struggles with it, or who wants to learn and/or improve a language or a skill. 

In South Africa the schooling of children, as explained before, lack the proper standards, which makes tutoring an essential tool to fill the gap, left by the system. Parents no longer have the choice, but to find alternative ways to patch up the holes. Tutoring is no longer a luxury, but essential for school learners in South Africa.  Albeit, an expensive service for many, it has become a necessity.

Bibliography Links:

1. https://mg.co.za/article/2015-04-17-most-of-our-new-teachers-cant
2. https://businesstech.co.za/news/wealth/133384/the-teacher-to-pupil-ratio-of-south-africas-largest-private-schools-operator/
3. http://www.health24.com/Lifestyle/Man/News/Teachers-work-in-toxic-environments-20140408
4. http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/kwazulu-natal/sa-teachers-overworked-and-underpaid-2076461
5. https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/datablog/2016/mar/22/60-hour-weeks-and-unrealistic-targets-teachers-working-lives-uncovered
6. http://www.groundup.org.za/article/corruption-schools-stealing-our-childrens-future_3327/
7. http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/gauteng/principals-are-most-corrupt-says-report-1479297