The Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill, better known as the BELA (Basic Education Laws Amendment) Bill, is currently being considered by Parliament. If approved unchanged, it will result in the biggest changes to South African education since 1996. Our current education system is based on the Schools Act of 1996. According to its preamble, this law is designed to establish a uniform system of education. Indeed, it has led to an...

Home educators fiercely oppose the Policy on Home Education (PHE), published in 2018, and the Basic Education Law Amendment (BELA) Bill that is currently being considered. It is assumed that national government is the driving force behind curbing of rights and freedoms of home educators. Closer inspection however reveals other driving forces. It started in the Western Cape The initiative to clamp down on home educators did not come from the...