Home education is legal in South Africa and legislation pertaining to homeschooling is included in the SA Schools Act, 84 of 1996 in Sections 3 and 51 respectively. However, understanding how it affects your child and how to respond is not always straightforward. At the bottom of this page we have a list of supporting articles to help you grapple with this controversial subject.
Homeschool Laws in South Africa
Be prepared. Be informed. Be empowered.
Home education was legalised as an alternative to compulsory schooling in South Africa in 1996.
SA Schools Act, 84 of 1996:
Section 3. Compulsory attendance.
(1) Subject to this Act and any applicable provincial law, 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….
(5) If a learner who is subject to compulsory attendance in terms of subsection (1) is not enrolled at or fails to attend a school, the Head of Department may—
(a) investigate the circumstances of the learner’s absence from school;
(b) take appropriate measures to remedy the situation; and
(c) failing such a remedy, issue a written notice to the parent of the learner requiring compliance with subsection (1).
(6) Subject to this Act and any other applicable law—
(a) any parent who, without just cause and after a written notice from the Head of Department, fails to comply with subsection (1), is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months; or
(b) any other person who, without just cause, prevents a learner who is subject to compulsory attendance from attending a school, is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months.
Parents could potentially be prosecuted if they prevent their children from attending school, if they are between the ages set for compulsory school attendance, namely from age 7-15 or the end of grade 9, whichever is soonest. Don’t let that put fear in your boots!
A child may be exempted from compulsory schooling if the parent applies for registration of a learner for education at home. Note that homeschooling must take place at the learner’s own home. This is prescribed by the law.
SA Schools Act, 84 of 1996:
Section 51: Registration of learner for education at home.
(1) A parent may apply to the Head of Department for the registration of a learner to receive education at the learner’s home.
(2) The Head of Department must register a learner as contemplated in subsection (1) 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.
(3) The Head of Department may, subject to subsection (4), withdraw the registration referred to in subsection (1).
(4) The Head of Department may not withdraw the registration until he or she—
(a) has informed the parent of his or her intention so to act and the reasons therefor;
(b) has granted the parent an opportunity to make representations to him or her in relation to such action; and
(c) has duly considered any such representations received.
(5) A parent may appeal to the Member of the Executive Council against the withdrawal of a registration or a refusal to register a learner in terms of this Act.
More Laws about Education
The Bill of Rights states the right to basic education in clause “29. (1) Everyone has the right— (a) to a basic education…”,
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 26, 1 states that, “Everyone has the right to education” (UDHR, Art. 26, 1).
Freedom of education is the right for parents to have their children educated in accordance with their religious and other views, allowing groups to be able to educate children without being impeded by the nation state.
Respect for freedom of education requires that the state may not prefer a particular educational method or approach, including compulsory attendance at a government operated institution. One should therefore distinguish between compulsory education and compulsory schooling.
The English liberal philosopher John Stuart Mill was a strong advocate of education without the state. He made some interesting comments in his essay On Liberty published in 1859:
“There are no libertarian objections to the state making the education of children compulsory. However, there are to the state providing and directing education. I go as far as anyone in deprecating that the whole or any large part of education should be in the hands of government.
Individual freedom and diversity in people’s characters, opinions, and modes of conduct require freedom and diversity in education – and any general system of state education would be a contrivance for casting people into the same mould and shape. Education would aim to suit the governing power – whether a monarch, a priesthood, an aristocracy, or a majority of the existing generation. The more efficient and successful state education was, the greater the despotism the state could establish over the minds and bodies of the people. If societies allow state-schools and universities to operate at all, these institutions should be just one among many competing forms and experiments in education. The government might establish them simply to provide models or examples of how to achieve certain standards of educational excellence.“
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty: A Translation into Modern English, ISR/Google Books, 2013, page 123. Ebook ISBN 9780906321638
Isn’t it interesting that he wrote that government could establish state schools and universities as examples of how to achieve certain standards. Perhaps this was because mass education did not yet exist at the time when he wrote the above, in 1859.
The South African Constitution states the following in the Bill of Rights in Section 29:
29. Education
1. Everyone has the right
a. to a basic education, including adult basic education; and
b. to further education, which the state, through reasonable measures, must make progressively available and accessible.
2. Everyone has the right to receive education in the official language or languages of their choice in public educational institutions where that education is reasonably practicable. In order to ensure the effective access to, and implementation of, this right, the state must consider all reasonable educational alternatives, including single medium institutions, taking into account
a. equity;
b. practicability; and
c. the need to redress the results of past racially discriminatory laws and practices.
3. Everyone has the right to establish and maintain, at their own expense, independent educational institutions that
a. do not discriminate on the basis of race;
b. are registered with the state; and
c. maintain standards that are not inferior to standards at comparable public educational institutions.
4. Subsection (3) does not preclude state subsidies for independent educational institutions.
To register or not for home education is a dilemma for homeschoolers that they have had to wrestle with since home education was legalised in 1996. It will remain a dilemma if the BELA Bill is passed as law. That means there is not an easy answer. Ultimately, this question will mostly likely need to be settled in the Constitutional Court, which is likely to be a lengthy and expensive process.
Until then, we advise home educators to join the Pestalozzi Trust, the homeschool legal defence association, to get specific advice that pertains to your family and your circumstances, and then to always act in the best interests of your child, which the highest law of the land, namely the South African Constitution requires as a priority in all decisions pertaining to your child.
Know the law and how it affects your family so that you can make the best possible decisions. Don’t make any decisions based on fear.
Homeschooling and the Law in South Africa
Be prepared. Be informed. Be empowered.
Read our other articles relating to Homeschool Laws in South Africa.
- Read this first – Disclaimer
- Must You Register for Homeschooling?
- Be Properly Informed of the Legalities of Homeschooling
- Registering with the Department vs A Child’s Best Interests
- Registering for Homeschooling versus Notification
- Are Home Visits Legal?
- Removing or Returning a Child to School
- 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