Pros and Cons of Registration for Home Education

Non-Registration

Pros

1. The SA Constitution and Children’s Act empower parental choice in “guiding, directing and securing the child’s education and upbringing, including religious and cultural education and upbringing, in a manner appropriate to the child’s age, maturity and stage of development.”
2. You retain the power to make decisions in the best interests of the child and do not hand it over to a government official, who may potentially veto your choice/s. (Such parental guidance may be overruled only by a competent court upon presentation of conclusive proof that a parental decision is contrary to the best interest of the child.) Section 28 (2) of the SA Constitution states that: “A child’s best interests are of paramount importance in every matter concerning the child.” Many parents believe that giving a stranger, the HOD, the responsibility to make decisions about their child’s education poses a potential risk which may not be in the child’s best interests.
3. You don’t apply for permission to exercise your right to choose the form of education that best suits your child. You don’t need a “license” or stamp of approval to exercise what is your “prior right,” according to Article 26 (3) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.*
4. No need to write a motivation to justify your choice, unless you do it for your own reasons.
5. No risk that someone else can dictate what you must teach and assess e.g. coding in Grade 1 or any government ideology.
6. No unnecessary and meaningless admin to create government-style reports.
7. No costs for assessments at the end of each phase by a competent assessor.
8. Parents stick to their ‘gut instinct’ and don’t feel they have made a compromise against a strongly held principle.
9. No need to worry about how your child’s performance or “slow progress” may be viewed by officials. 
10. Fighting a law that is not fit for purpose is not just for the registered. Many unregistered homeschoolers have and will continue to be very vocal and active in  ‘battling’ the restrictions imposed by the law and the Department of Basic Education (DBE). 
11. Equal education requires that learners with different circumstances and characteristics be treated differently to enable them to achieve the same outcome – full development of their individual potential, (not fulfillment of arbitrary government-regulated requirements.)
12. You can more easily protect your child’s right to privacy, and you don’t have to disclose medical conditions, special needs, learning challenges or any other personal, private information about your child. The Children’s Act states that children have the right to privacy regarding their health status.
13. You don’t have to try to make your child’s form of education fit the model of the DBE forms, records and modus operandi. Parents are free to continue homeschooling in whichever methodology suits the child, such as unschooling, eclectic, and not have to create formal reports.

Cons

1. Your decision is not in compliance with the SA Schools Act, although it might potentially be protected by the Constitution and/or The Children’s Act. This remains uncertain until it is tested in a court of law. The SA Schools Act makes provision for people that do not register if they have a “just cause.” It is not clear what a valid “just cause” is, but there could be many possibilities. 
2. You may worry about the risk of investigation by the DBE. Read the article that explains step-by-step What could happen if you don’t register? 
3. Social workers are sometimes used to prosecute homeschooling families. However, social workers must act according to the Children’s Act. They can take away custody of children if sufficient evidence is provided that children are neglected, abused, etc. If social workers find children receive sufficient parental care, but the parents failed to register for home education, they should report this to the department of education, because this is the department responsible for enforcing the SA Schools Act.
4. You may be investigated and forced by a court to rectify your administrative neglect (failing to apply) and to comply with the SA Schools Act and submit an application for registration.
5. You may experience pressure or judgment from peers or family members who disagree with your choice or whose children are (to be) registered.

Registration

Pros

1. If approved, you have peace of mind that you are complying with the law as set out in the SA Schools Act. (Once one has applied, one has essentially given up the right to educate your child as you see fit. Now the HOD has that power. It may be harder to take that responsibility back, if your application is not approved.)
2. Less risk of investigation for non-registration. However, there have been incidents where homeschoolers were prosecuted by social workers, despite being registered.
3. The DBE holds you accountable to monitor the learner and record regular homeschool assessments. This only appears as an advantage if the parent believes that the state is primarily responsible for their children and the parent is secondary and that the state has the capability to meaningfully monitor the progress of home learners and take appropriate remedial actions if assessment results do not meet the required standards.
4. Some parents may find it useful to write a motivation for choosing home education and put their motives and goals in written format to refer back to later. (You can do that without registering.)
5. Parents who choose to register potentially have an opportunity to take the battlefront TO the DBE. (You may influence new policy.)
6. You may help gather evidence for the upcoming Constitutional Court Case: In order to strike down the substantive issues in the Bill to the extent that one would wish to, it is necessary to have solid proof that those issues are causing real unconstitutional limitations on real people. This will create an opportunity for families that are willing to experience the stress associated with legal challenges in order to serve the greater movement. (Are you willing to be a “guinea pig” to test the law?)
7. Registration and assessments may make returning to mainstream school easier. Children have a right to receive basic education and schools must admit them if they are not full.

Cons

1. There is a risk that an official can overrule your parental choice to home educate your child. In conflict with the Children’s Act, the BELA Act removes the right of children to have their education guided by their parents and instead, it grants authority to the Head of Department to potentially overrule parental decisions. If parents have to apply for permission to exercise this right on behalf of a child, then their children’s right to have the education guided by their family or parents can potentially be violated by a complete stranger!  
2. Educational choice then becomes a privilege, approved and granted by the Head of Department!
3. There is a risk that the conditions for registration may not be in your child’s best interest.
4. There is a risk that your application may be declined and you have to deal with the stress of an appeal or a new application.
5. The application still refers to the Home Education Policy. The Policy contradicts the BELA Act.
6. You may struggle to complete an application form that is not fit for purpose or does not ‘work’ for your style of home education
7. There is a risk that the Minister may at a later stage make new regulations that are unfavourable to your learner.
8. Learning is restricted to “primarily at the learner’s own home” which potentially does not allow for maximum freedom and restricts learners from other educational options/locations which may be in their best interests.
9. 68 % of home educators do not follow a grade-based system. Grade level learning does not always fit with the child-paced approach of home education. 
10. The school modality is being used as a template for regulating home education. This leads to conflict and friction as the two modalities have very little in common, about as much as an apple and an orange. 
11. Some provincial education departments currently require quarterly and annual reports from parents of home educated learners as part of the parent’s responsibility to “monitor the learner’s academic progress”. Currently in the Western Cape, schools are expected to submit quarterly reports in CEMIS. It is not unreasonable to expect that over time the same will be expected of home educators.
12. Parents must cover the cost of assessments by a competent assessor at the end of each phase.
13. There is no reliable data available on the costs involved in assessment, so parents are undertaking this obligation with no idea of the cost.
14. There is uncertainty as to what is considered a programme of learning  that is “comparable to” the content and skills included in the National Curriculum Statement.
15. There is uncertainty as to what needs to be assessed and reported. 
16. There is uncertainty as to what is “a standard that is not inferior to the standard determined in the National Curriculum Statement” against which a learner’s progress must be assessed by a competent assessor.
17. There is uncertainty as to who qualifies as a competent assessor. For example, the Western Cape Education Department recognises that assessment cannot be done against CAPS if a learner is following a different methodology of home education, such as a non-graded learning programme.
18. When a learner has reached the end of a school phase may not be clear to a parent following a non-school-like programme, especially if the learner’s progress in various subjects is asynchronous.
19. There is a risk that officials might enforce curriculum choices that are comparable to CAPS (Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement).
20. Children may potentially be compelled to express knowledge or opinions on topics not of their own choice as they must follow a programme that is comparable to the “content  and skills” in the National Curriculum Statement.
21. There is a risk of your family’s sensitive data being stolen on computers at the DBE offices. (This has happened twice before.)
22. You may need to disclose private, sensitive information about your child’s health, disabilities, special needs, learning challenges, extra murals etc. The POPI Act (2013) specifies that officials may not gather personal information they cannot use.
23. You may stress and worry about your child’s performance as it has to be reported to the DBE. 
24. The BELA Act also gives the Head of Department the power to cancel the registration for home education at any time. There are no clear guidelines about what conditions will justify a cancellation.
25. The enforcement of the monitoring will be difficult. The Department must lay down a procedure and system for submitting test results capable of storing tens of thousands of results (some on paper and some electronic in different formats). They must check which reports are outstanding, and what they will do with weak results. They must develop clear policies on what will be viewed as a weak result and under which circumstances registrations will be canceled. Without such procedures, systems and policies in place, submitting assessment will place administrative and financial burdens on parents without serving any meaningful purpose.
26. There is a risk that a court case may be lost. Regardless of how strong the case might seem for protecting homeschool freedoms in court, the transformation of the judiciary should not be underestimated. This is described in the books of Dr. Koos Malan (e.g, There Is No Supreme Constitution). Despite the strength of the case, there could be a significant probability that court cases are lost, and the current policy of the state is enforced. It could be a better option to delay court cases until a later time, when home education has become so mainstream that courts will be more hesitant to prosecute homeschoolers. 
27. You may experience pressure or judgment from peers or family members who disagree with your choice or whose children are not registered.

Homeschooling and the Law in South Africa

Be prepared. Be informed. Be empowered.

Read our other articles relating to Homeschool Laws in South Africa.

1. Read this first – Disclaimer
2. Pros and Cons of Registration for Home Education
3. Must You Register for Homeschooling?
4. What Could Happen if You Don’t Register?
5. Be Properly Informed of the Legalities of Homeschooling
6. Registering with the Department vs A Child’s Best Interests
7. Are Home Visits Legal?
8. Removing or Returning a Child to School
9. Cottage Schools

Homeschool Assessments, Reports and Compliance
Part 1 – Homeschool Assessments
Part 2 – Homeschool Reports
Part 3 – Should You Submit Homeschool Reports?

Curriculum Compliance
School at Home versus Eclectic Homeschooling
Footprints and CAPS
Footprints Language Arts and CAPS
Barefoot Days and CAPS