Home schooling blow

AS IF the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill (Bela) was not bad enough, the Department of Basic Education has now dealt home educating parents a second blow – a draft policy on home education – and a mere few days – until December 8 – to submit comments.

The policy pays lip service to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which South Africa has ratified, and the Children’s Act, which describes parents’ responsibilities and rights in respect of a child. It says: “The object of this policy is to… recognise parents’ prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

Then, chapter after chapter, it proceeds to erode these rights by setting requirements for parents to meet, echoing the requirements of the infamous Bela Bill. A parent must apply for approval from the head of department (HOD) to register a child for home education and the HOD has the power to approve, disapprove or terminate home education.

The assumption running through this proposed new policy and Section 51 of the SA Schools Act which it upholds, is that home educating parents cannot be trusted to care for and educate their children, unless subjected to continual checks from the government.

The irony is that parents can no longer trust the state to provide quality education for their children. This is a driving force behind the growing home education movement in South Africa. If parents must apply to exercise their right to choose the form of education in their child’s best interests, then I submit their “prior right” has been violated and the state has usurped parents’ rights. Shirley Erwee Hermanus