Educating children at home not easy

PARENTS who choose to educate their children at home have some tough hurdles to overcome.

A Capetonian, who did not want to be named, chose home schooling for her children because she objects to the government school syllabus. She is teaching an American Christian syllabus. “I wanted to develop a love of learning in my children and I did not see that in the state school system,” she said from Cape Town.

“I also saw a lot mediocrity at school. Children did stuff just to get by.”

The woman, a qualified mathematics teacher, has enjoyed years of tutoring her children, aged eight, 12 and 14.

They are not registered with the Department of Education as being home-taught.

“People who have chosen not to register are generally law-abiding but it is not an easy thing, to register,” she said.

“If you are home schooling, because you are choosing an alternative form of education, then you do not want someone to prescribe what you are doing.

“As soon as you register, you are agreeing to follow the state’s syllabus.”

She is part of a group of more than 1 000 parents who have not sought the state’s permission to educate their children at home and have formed a Facebook group to keep in touch.

Statistics SA’s General Household Survey (GHS) in 2013 said there were 15 830 pupils being educated at home across all provinces – 0.1% of children at school.

In 2015, the GHS showed the number of home-schooled children had risen to 22 000.

The Pestalozzi Trust is a legal defence fund set up to shield parents who choose to educate their children at home without the state’s permission.