Sunday, 12 August 2007

Response to MEC’s remarks about Home-Education on 9 August 2007

by A Daddy


The article below appeared in the Mercury on 9 August 2007. I thought I’d make a few comments, which I also forwarded to the Mercury.
At first when I read the article I thought of this one liner – “What’s worse – Ignorance or Apathy? – Who knows? Who cares?”
I read it again and thought of this quote – “In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.”
Then I wondered how some people can think its right to think you’re right when you think its right to be wrong.
Then decided to write a response.
I wonder – Is it proper to slam home education by saying it has a serious negative impact on the overall development of children?
Depends – If you have interviewed every single person who ever received home education and you find everyone to be underdeveloped in some area – your “slammation” may have grounds. If not, it is worth as much as a statistic that is made up on the spot.
If someone reckons that schools are microcosms of society, it is probably also possible that that same person could surmise that an aeroplane can fly through a watermelon. You see – A watermelon is 80% water and a cloud is 80% water. An aeroplane can fly through a cloud. Therefore an aeroplane can fly through a watermelon.
If you think that education is much more than simply failing or passing, you are right. As a matter of interest – failing, passing and socialising are words that are entirely divorced from education.
Identity, purpose and legitimacy, on the other hand, is a large part thereof.
That said - One should never assume that all parents who homeschool, educate their children.
Education has to do with assisting/training an individual to reach his/her potential and doing what he/she was created for. It has nothing to do with exclusivity or academics. It has everything to do with clarity of focus.
In conclusion I can agree with Mark Twain who said – “Never let your schooling interfere with your education.”



By Colleen DardaganMEC slams home education
August 09 2007 at 07:46AM
KwaZulu-Natal Education MEC Ina Cronje has slammed home education, saying it has a seriously negative impact on the overall development of children."I am utterly against it. Part of a child's learning is to socialise and learn to cope in the world. If schools are microcosms of society, depriving the child of that learning experience will have a very serious impact on overall development. "Children may do well in a subject, but education is much more than simply failing or passing," said Cronje, while confirming there had been an increase in the number of registrations for home schooling in KZN over the past year.
Home education is under the spotlight in South Africa, with research findings by the national Education Department due to be released soon.Leendert van Oostrum, head of the Pestalozzi Trust, has dismissed the findings, saying the process was flawed and the results would not accurately reflect why parents chose to school their children at home. The trust is a Gauteng-based legal defence fund for home school parents who find themselves in conflict with the Education Department."The department only tendered for a survey of those who are registered and, according to our records, less than five percent of the estimated 80 000 children being home schooled in the country are reflected on departmental records. Any research based on the number of children listed with the department cannot accurately reflect the many different reasons parents choose to home educate their children."Hersheela Narsee, head of the research project at the department, said the results of the study, which involved 2 900 registered children, were due for release in the next few months. According to the national department, KZN had more than 500 children registered for home schooling, the highest number in the country.Education spokesperson Christi Naude said the number of children registered did not correlate with the national department's figures. "We had 400 registered, but that is not accurate.Then the computers were stolen at our offices in Ulundi, so we only have records of 155 children - we have had an increase of 70 percent in registrations in the last year. However, this figure is also not reliable as many parents do not inform us when they decide to stop home schooling and send their children back to public or independent schools."Narsee described the monitoring process in KZN as difficult. "Distances and human resource capacity issues in the department are key barriers. For example, to monitor over 500 home learners in KwaZulu-Natal it would require officials to travel 60 840km and 877 man days a year for a single, three-hour visit to each of these home sites," she said.Van Oostrum said according to his records most parents chose not to send their children to public schools precisely because they didn't want them to follow the national curriculum."The new curriculum shows all the hallmarks of revolutionary education practice based on Marxist theory. Children's religious and cultural identities are shifted by interfaith and multiculturism to common identities. In fact, I believe the Department of Education's curriculum is so prescriptive, it borders on the unlawful."

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