Homeschooling in SA

The new year has come crashing into our lives like the golden pendulum on a trusted grandfather clock. We knew it was coming, but some of us are caught off-guard when the chiming began. The timer is reset for the education, work life and personal lives of many. Many deciding to take an alternative to what was their norm.

Taking the alternative for many feels like the next step after the year we had in 2020 (COVID-19 pandemic). This pandemic showed us that as limitless as we tried to live, we still had limits. Being limited by the outside world, whilst you have the ability to support the continuation of work and study seems quite annoying. Education is one of those spheres which was unfortunately impacted and had limits imposed. We watched time tick away; even though many of our households have internet access, books and a willing and able team (family members and tutors). Many private schools were able to cope with the changes and have assisted learners and parents receive hybrid (online and on-campus) assistance, but many have not been so lucky. We say no more as the alternative schooling solutions market has truly grown and evolved to becoming a growing an option for many.  There are a few things to take note of when taking the plunge to alternative schooling. We will focus on online and homeschooling.

Home and online schooling is recognized and legal as identified by the South African Schools Act (No. 84 of 1996). Home schooling and online schooling is very different as the parties responsible for interacting with the local education department differs. Let’s take home schooling. Each Province has the authority to set its own standards, but it is important to note that should a learner be deregistered from a school with hopes of entering a homeschooling programme the local education department is to be notified and formal application made. This formal application ensures that the learner receives state endorsed education and the progress of the home student can be monitored. With online or hybrid schooling institutes learners are still part of an education institute and get monitored and assessed by the school. The assessments and application to formal examination is done by the institute (as seen in mainstream schools). This means that learners do not need to apply at the government to join an online/hybrid school.

Selection of the preferred education journey for your child is completely up to the parent and caregivers. These decisions are dictated to by time, money, access to resources and the personality of the learner. These alternative schooling options can see the development of some really independent and well-rounded scholars. Just as mainstream schools boast some of the most impressive selection of schools, so do the alternative schooling market. Online schools such as Curro Online, Brainline and Cambrilearn offer an online solution dependent on the curriculum preferred. Hybrid schools such as the Valenture Instute offer families an opportunity to have the online schooling with the campus experience as school facilities are available on their various campuses. If you would like to take education into your own hands or the hands of a small independent local tutor or cottage school, Impaq provides CAPS curriculum content and assessments. These are some, but not all your options. 

You’ve selected an alternative schooling experience for you family or really interested in taking the plunge, now what? You ensure that the transition and upkeep of the education is closely monitored, or you monitor the current situation closely and weigh your options. Tutors can assist with this and that is where Goodie Tutors and other tutoring agencies come in. A tutor can assist learners map out their work, prepare for assessments, track understanding and knowledge as well as troubleshoot many issues. They offer a third hand that can support a student in any education journey which is decided upon.

The pandemic has shown us that we have come far as a global community, and there are many limits we have broken through. That being said, there are many limits that we have that have been highlighted, and of these many we have come to accept. Receiving education and education support should definitely NOT be one of them. 

If you would like assistance in gauging whether any of the above solutions are for you, or you need a tutor for any kind of academic support, please do contact us