The Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Bill has not yet become law but as it is in essence identical to the Policy on Home Education that has been implemented since 2018 it can be argued it has already failed.
Since the implementation of the the Policy on Home Education
70% of homeschoolers are still awaiting registration approval.
Of these, 66% have been waiting for over six months.
An alarming 38% have been waiting for over a year.
High rejection rates:
In KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), the ratio of approvals to rejections is 1:1.
More than half of homeschoolers are reluctant to register under the current process.
Existing registration policies fail to account for administrative capacity:
Some officials' mailboxes are inadequate for the large number of documents required for each registration, causing applications to get lost.
Some provinces do not have officials dedicated full time to home education.
Significant issues with data collection and reporting:
Despite three years since the policy's implementation, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) cannot produce reliable data on homeschoolers.
DBE's 2021/2022 Annual Report showed an inconsistent decrease in the number of homeschoolers, dropping by nearly half within three months without reasonable explanation.
The BELA Bill's potential enactment could lead to a flood of applications:
Based on current homeschooling data, approximately 30,000 homeschoolers would need to apply within 30 days of BELA Bill becoming law, which may overwhelm already strained provincial education departments.
Wording of the BELA Bill causes ambiguity and potential issues:
The bill allows for "automatic" registration after 60 days if the department fails to "respond". However, a minimal response would prevent this automatic registration, potentially leaving many applications in limbo.
Advocacy for legislative revisions:
The homeschooling community is advocating for changes to the BELA Bill to ensure a more streamlined, efficient, and fair process.
The bill's high rejection rate is contributing to a growing desire for a notification process rather than a permission-based system.
The complexity of the registration requirements and the lack of appropriate tools are not the fault of the officials, but rather an inherent flaw in the proposed policies.
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