ACTION NEEDED!

The Department of Basic Education wants to change its policy for admission to public schools, and we have the opportunity to influence it! Read the draft policy here.

Why does it matter to us?

Home educators whose children wish to return to the public schooling system will be negatively impacted if problems that have arisen in the application process are not addressed.

Here are some of the problems members of the Pestalozzi Trust often encounter:

• A school refuses to remove a learner from its admission register.
• A school refuses to supply a learner with a transfer card, in many cases unless the learner has proof of registration for home education. But one of the documents the DBE asks you to submit when you register on the national website is a transfer card: a catch-22 situation.
• A school refuses to admit a home educated learner without some kind of a formal report.

While the proposed new policy does state that a school must remove a learner from their admission register when the learner registers for home education, it does not provide guidelines for the school on providing a transfer card to home educators when the learner leaves the school with the intention of being home educated.

What you can do

Comment on the proposed policy, requesting the Minister to make provision for movement to and from home education in the public schools’ admission policy. Submissions close March 12, 2021.

How to send in your comments

Here are two ways of sending in your comments on the policy:

1. You may email your comment to Ledwaba.C@dbe.gov.za, cc’ing Gela.n@dbe.gov.za. Please also bcc your comment to homeschoolfreedom1996@gmail.com as proof of your comment having been submitted.
2. You may fax your comment to 012 323 9430.

Comments must be addressed to Minister Angelina Matsie Motshekga c/o Adv. Charles Ledwaba. Please provide the following information in your comment, to ensure that your comments be considered:

1. Your province
2. Your name
3. Your surname
4. Your email address
5. Your objection to or comment on the policy, quoting a specific clause where applicable. In this case you are requesting an addition, so you must describe the problem which prompts you to ask for the addition.
6. A proposal for the formulation of the clause that can address your concern.

Examples of suggestions to make

You may ask that the following clause be added to provide for a learner who leaves the public school to start home education:

When a parent informs a public school that they are removing a learner from the school to home educate the learner, the principal must complete a transfer card and hand it to the parent.

Clause 18 states which documents may be accepted in lieu of a transfer card when a learner is admitted to a public school. To provide for a home learner who applies for admission to a public school, you may ask that the following clause be included as 18(c):

(c) a written affirmation or sworn statement (in the form of an Affidavit) of the parent stating the grade level reached in home education.

This is our chance to make life easier for all of us. Send in your comments today!

NOTE: The Policy on Home Education, which in any event cannot be rigidly enforced, does not make the possession of a transfer card a requirement for registration for home education. Having a transfer card will however make your life easier, so obtain one if you can. Members of the Pestalozzi Trust who are currently in the process of removing their children from school and are struggling to obtain such a card may contact the Trust for assistance. The transfer card is called a “transfer certificate” on the DBE website. It is the same document.