(Deadline: October 5th, 2025)
The Minister of Basic Education is writing regulations for the Admission of Learners to Public Schools, and we can influence it!
NOTE: If you lack the time to make your own comment, have a quick look at the template we provide below!
Why does it matter to us?
Although the vast majority of regulations in the Admission of Learner to Public Schools Regulations do not impact home education directly, home educators whose children wish to return to, or leave, 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:
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- A school refuses to remove a learner from its admission register.
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- 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 your child as a home learner is a transfer card: a catch-22 situation.
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- A school refuses to admit a home educated learner without some kind of a formal report, a transfer card, and/or a portfolio of evidence.
While the proposed new regulations do 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.
It also does not sufficiently address the event where a home learner wishes to return to school.
What the Pestalozzi Trust did
We made a submission on the draft regulations touching on the following main points:
(a) Hybrid Hearings
The current written comment process is insufficient. Given the twelve-year history of inadequate consultation since the inception of the BELA process in 2013, we call for a supplementary programme of hybrid public hearings. These must include at least one physical hearing in every province, supplemented with online participation, proper notice, documentation, and feedback.
(b) Separate Regulations for Interim Homeschooling
Interim homeschooling (families homeschooling temporarily while awaiting placement in schools) presents unique challenges and is distinct from established home education. We therefore recommend that separate regulations be developed for interim homeschooling, after proper consultation, to avoid conflating this category with long-term home education.
(c) Substantive Recommendations
The Trust highlights recurring challenges with transfer cards, admission of learners from home education into schools, and lack of clear guidelines for documentation. We recommend that schools be instructed to accept a wider range of documents—including parental reports, sworn affirmations, psychological evaluations, and standardised literacy/numeracy tests—beyond the narrow requirement of competent assessor reports at the end of grades 3, 6, and 9. These measures would give effect to the BELA Act, ensuring that learners are not unfairly excluded or delayed in their educational trajectory.
You can access our submission here.
What you can do
You can comment on the proposed regulations, requesting the Minister to make sufficient provision for movement to and from home education in the public schools’ admission policy. Submissions close October 5th, 2025.
How to send in your comments
Here are three ways of sending in your comments on the regulations:
(a) You may email your comment to AdmissionRegz@dbe.gov.za. Please bcc your comment to homeschoolfreedom1996@gmail.com as proof of your comment being submitted.
(b) You may post such comments to the following address: Private Bag X895; PRETORIA; 0001.
(c) You may deliver comments by hand at the following address: The Department of Basic Education; 222 Struben Street; Pretoria; 0001.
Comments must be addressed to the Director: Legal Services and marked for the attention of Adv Zukile Ntshwanti.
You can provide the following information in your comment:
- Your province
- Your name
- Your surname
- Your email address
- Your objection to 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.
- A proposal for the formulation of the clause that can address your concern.
- If the above information is not provided, your comments may not be considered.
Examples of suggestions to make
(1) You may ask for hearings to be held on the regulations to ensure proper public participation.
(2) You can ask that separate regulations be written for interim homeschoolers.
(3) 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.
(4) You may ask that the following clause be added to provide for a learner who stops home education to enter a public school:
When a learner transfers from home education to a public school, the Head of Department must complete a transfer card and hand it to the parent or forward it to the principal of the receiving school.
(5) Clause 13(11) states which documents may be accepted in lieu of a transfer card when a learner is admitted to a public school.
Currently, 13(11)(c) provides that “where the learner is registered for home education, a report issued by a competent assessor stating the last grade,” may be accepted in lieu of a transfer card.
However, the BELA Act only requires a competent assessor’s report at the end of grades 3, 6 and 9. The current suggested clause therefore does not provide for home learners going back to school in any other grade than grade 4, 7, and 10.
To provide for a home learner who applies for admission to a public school in a different grade than grade 4, 7, or 10, you may ask that the following clause be included as 13(11)(d):
(d) A sworn affirmation by a parent stating the grade level the learner attained in home education.
Lack time to comment? Use our template!
Comments on the draft regulations close on October 5th, 2025. If you don’t have time to sit down and write a unique comment, please consider using the below template. Make sure you change the wording of the block letters!
TEMPLATE:
To: Director: Legal Services
For attention: Adv. Zukile Ntshwanti
Good day
I am [CHOOSE ONE: a home educating parent / a home learner / a concerned citizen] and wish to comment on the Admission of Learners to Public Schools Regulations.
I support the Pestalozzi Trust submission that can be accessed here: https://pestalozzi.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Pestalozzi-Trust-Submission-on-Public-School-Admission-Regulations-2025.09.02.pdf
In short, I request:
- Hybrid Hearings
The current written comment process is insufficient. Given the twelve-year history of inadequate consultation since the inception of the BELA process in 2013, we call for a supplementary programme of hybrid public hearings. These must include at least one physical hearing in every province, supplemented with online participation, proper notice, documentation, and feedback.
- Separate Regulations for Interim Homeschooling
Interim homeschooling (families homeschooling temporarily while awaiting placement in schools) presents unique challenges and is distinct from established home education. We therefore recommend that separate regulations be developed for interim homeschooling, after proper consultation, to avoid conflating this category with long-term home education.
- Substantive Recommendations
The Pestalozzi Trust highlights recurring challenges with transfer cards, admission of learners from home education into schools, and lack of clear guidelines for documentation. We recommend that schools be instructed to accept a wider range of documents—including parental reports, sworn affirmations, psychological evaluations, and standardised literacy/numeracy tests—beyond the narrow requirement of competent assessor reports at the end of grades 3, 6, and 9. These measures would give effect to the BELA Act, ensuring that learners are not unfairly excluded or delayed in their educational trajectory.
Kind regards,
[NAME AND SURNAME]
[EMAIL ADDRESS]
[PROVINCE]
END OF TEMPLATE
Now simply email your completed template letter to AdmissionRegz@dbe.gov.za!
PS: Don’t forget to bcc your comment to homeschoolfreedom1996@gmail.com as proof of your comment having been submitted, helping us keep track of how many people are supporting our call.
Is it safe?
Home educators do not need to be concerned that the provided information will be used by the Department of Basic Education to prosecute them. The people that handle the objections should not share the information with the officials that handle home education. Furthermore, experience has shown that the department are very loath to prosecute citizens that stand up for their rights. In the highly unlikely event that an education official attempts to prosecute a member of the Pestalozzi Trust, the Trust will be there to protect your rights and freedoms.
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.)
