In South Africa, all
Grade 1 to 9 children (or 7 to 15 years of age) are considered of compulsory
school-going age. The BELA Act also deems Grade R compulsory, however, the
current home education guidelines are not specific around Grade R and parents
must liaise with their Provincial Department of Education around
registration.
Parents/legal guardians
are required to register learners with the Department of Education (DBE) as
from September of the year preceding the start of a new phase for the first
time. The phases are: Grades 1 to 3 (Foundation Phase), Grades 4 to 6 (Intermediate
Phase) and Grades 7 to 9 (Senior Phase). Towards the end of a particular phase,
should a parent decide to home educate the learner during the next phase, it is
the parent's responsibility to inform the PED of their intention to continue
with home education.
You can complete this
free registration at the following link: https://www.education.gov.za/Programmes/HomeEducation.aspx
Find more information on
registering with your provincial department of education (PED) on our Optimi Learning Portal.
Please note that Impaq
cannot register learners on behalf of the parent/legal guardian. A tutor can
also not register a learner as tutors are not considered legal
schools. Learners enrolled at the Impaq Online School do not need to be
registered with their Provincial Department of Education. A draft policy for
online schools is being reviewed by the Department of Basic Education (DBE) at
the moment, and as such, online school learners have are currently exempt from
registration with the DBE.
Registration with the
DBE is not applicable to Grades 10 to 12 learners.