How To Register For Homeschooling in South Africa 2020

Here is the information on South Africa Homeschooling and a guide on how to register for South Africa Homeschooling.

Due to the pandemic, going to school is now impossible for many students to avoid the spread of coronavirus. Home Education has been adopted where learners of compulsory school-going age will provide education for their ward at home.

This article will put you through on how to register for Homeschooling in South Africa.

Homeschooling in South Africa

In 1994, parents were given the right to home educate their child after it was legalized in South Africa with the adoption of a new constitution. The Act was not recognized until 1996 when Act 51 of the SA School Act was introduced. This Act made it known that parents can register their wards for home education. This made home education legal in South Africa.

Do I need to register for home education?

Before you can start home education for your child, you will have to register. Act 51 of the SA School Act requires parents to register their children for home education. If you want to home school your child, you will have to register by applying to the head of your Provincial Education Department to register for the Home Education.

Your Province Education Head of Department will be responsible for the endorsement of the registration of learners to start receiving education at home and for the monitoring of the learner. The procedure for registering is the same in all provincial departments of education as national norms and standards pertaining to home education.

The responsibility of granting parents the application to educate their wards at home can be delegated to an official in the province by the Province head of the department of education. In the Home Education of your wards, you can either chose to self educate your wards or hire a tutor to do so. The parent can also enlist the roles of the tutor for specific areas of the curriculum; or a legal, independent form of education. Thin is am alternative to attendance at a public or an independent school.

It is stated by the department of education that, the lesson you offer your child must fall within the following compulsory phases of education which are below:

• foundation phase (grades 1-3)
• intermediate phase (grades 4-6)
• senior phase (grades 7-9)

The Minister will determine the age-grade norms of the Act apply to a learner in home education (Government Notice No. 2433 of 1998). The parent of a learner that is no longer of compulsory school-going age or grade as contemplated in section 3 of, the Act, does not need to apply for home education registration. Parent of a learner that has special education will have to apply for registration to register their child for homeschooling according to section 3(2) of the Act.

Advantages of homeschooling

Homeschooling has so many advantages which will be stated below:

• A child attending home school will feel safe and free of being bullied by classmates.
• The parent will see to the intellectual, emotional, social, physical and ethical development of their child.
• It makes the pace of learning adjustable
• The emotional and IQ of the child will be developed under parents supervision.
• It improves the social interaction of a child, choice of friendship as they are taught manners and ethics.

Homeschooling Registration Time-frames

• For your application to be processed, it can take up to 30days. Make sure you submit all the supporting documents with your application form.

How to Apply for Homeschooling in South Africa

You can apply for homeschooling in South Africa for your child using the online application form, which is submitted to the head of your Provincial Education Department. You must attach the following documents with your application form:

• A copy of parents certified ID
• For foreign nationals certified, you will submit copies of passport /study permit/work permit/Asylum document
• A recent copy of the child school report (only for a child that is in school before)
• A weekly timetable that will include contact time per day
• A good breakdown of terms per year (196 days per year)
• A learning programme
• A certified copy of the child’s birth certificate

Notes:  You are not to pay for the application form, it is totally free for parents that want to apply for homeschooling.

Steps to follow

A parent must:

• Parents should apply to the head of the Department of Education of the province where they reside to register a child for homeschooling;
• The learners birth certificate must be submitted with the homeschooling application form
• Provide documentation that shows the unit standards the parent will facilitate (teach) which must be Legal framework South African Schools Act, 1996 (Act 84 of 1996) Service standard.

Who can Apply for Home- Schooling?

Home education is a programme where the parent of a learner provides education for their child at home by hiring a teacher or themselves. It is contemplated in section 51 of the Act. The following are the people that are eligible to apply for a child homeschooling:

(a)Parents or guardian of a learner:

(b) A person legally entitled to the custody of a child; or

(c) A person who undertakes to fulfil the obligations of a person referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) towards the learner’s education at school.

Application for registration

The parent of the child applying for homeschooling must complete the application form for South Africa homeschooling, the form will be given to the parent by the Head of Department or a duly authorized official, with the conditions for registration. The contact address of the person responsible for the information on the provincial curriculum for the school phase of the learner and the minimum standard of education for the learner must be given to the parent.

After completing the application form, the parent must forward the application letter together with all the required documents to the Head of Department or the designated official. Also, a pro forma application form is hereto attached for the guidance of provincial departments of education.

Conditions for registration of a learner for education at home:

(a) Before setting conditions and considering the registration in terms of section 51(2) of the Act, the head of the department must obtain the following information from the parent of the learner:

•  Arguments to show that home education is in the interest of the learner and it will benefit the learner. It will also show that the learner will be able to exercise his or her fundamental right to education, taught at least as regularly and as well as his/her colleague in a public school. The parent will have to show evidence of his/her highest level of education, the hours of the day the child will be educated, detailed information on the learning resources and information about the programme that will be followed. This is to make sure the child will benefit from the homeschooling.
• A proposed curriculum that will be used for home education for approval.

(b) The learning programme must suit the age and ability of the child. It must be in accordance with the minimum requirements of the public schools’ curriculum in the province. It must also meet up with the language policy and the standard specifies for each of the phases.

(c) At least 3 hours of contact teaching time must be received by the learner per day.

(d) The home education provided for the child must be consistent and must have the values contained in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Act No. 108 of 1996) and the Act. Unfair discrimination, racism or religion discrimination must not be encouraged by parents that chose home education for their child due to curriculum, philosophy and pedagogy reason. All role players of child education at home must make sure the education of learner is consistent and has the value contained in the Constitution. The Head of Department must respond to the home education application within a period of 30days after receiving the application form. If all the conditioned are met, the Head of Department must register the child for home education and award the certificate of registration to the parent. If the conditions for home education are not met, he/she must write to the parents informing them the reason why their application is not successful.

Students Previously Enrolled in Public or Independent School

The registration of a child for home education is valid until the child reaches the end of each phase or until the certificate is revoked. A learners parent previously educated at a public or independent school before opting for home education must obtain a transfer certificate from the school. If the Head of Department fails to register a learner for home education, the learners’ parent must be informed and appeal can be made to the Member of the Executive Council in terms of section 51(4) of the Act.

All the procedures in section 3(5) or (6) of the Act must be compulsory for the parent of a learner of compulsory school-going age who, for any reason, is not registered for home education, and not enrolled at a public/independent school, or is exempted from compulsory school attendance in terms of section 4 of the Act.

Duties of the parent for home education

After you have successfully registered your child for home education, you must do the followings:

1. Keep attendance record.
2.  Keep the learner portfolio of work with an evidence of education support given to the child and interventions. It is the up-to-date records of progression of a learner. This records must available for inspection by a duly authorized official of the provincial department of education.
3. Evidence of continuous assessment of the learner’s education to show the learner’s progress towards achieving the outcomes of the learning programme. Assessment/examinations evidence must be kept at the end of each year of the learner home education and at the end of grades 3, 6 and 9 stating if the goal of these grades has been achieved or not.
4. The parent must keep all relevant assessment results for three years for monitoring by the Head of Department.
5. At the end of each phase, the parent must appoint an independent, suitably qualified person(s) approved by the Head of Department at their own expense for the assessment of the learner’s progress at the end of each phase that the learner is completing. A public school or a registered independent school can be consulted by the parent for assistance. A statement must then be submitted to the Head of Department confirming that the learner assessed has indeed reached the required level.
6. If the learner is admitted to a public or registered independent school, the parent must write to the Head of Department to terminate the learner’s registration for home education.

What You Should Know About Homeschooling

The Head of Department has the power to withdraw the registration of a learner who is receiving education at home, after reasonable effort to obtain or verify relevant information if,

1. false information is provided in the application form;
2. the conditions are not complied with, or
3. the parent disregard any of the criteria set in section 51 (2)(b) of the Act. In accordance with section 51(4) of the Act, the learner registration can be withdrawn after the Head of Department has
   1. write to the parent on his or her intention to take action and the reasons for it;
   2. Give the parent an opportunity to make representations; and
   3. considered any such representations.

The Head of Department must write to the parent that they can appeal in terms of section 51 (4) of the Act to the Member of the Executive Council against the withdrawal of registration. When a learner is within the compulsory school attendance age then the registration contemplated in terms of section 51 of the Act will be withdrawn, the learner must attend a school either public or independent at that age. A parent that does not comply with the provisions of section 3 of the Act on compulsory school attendance will be guilty of an offence as contemplated in section 3(6) unless the learner is properly registered in terms of section 51 of the Act.