Parents can, however, apply for their children to continue with homeschooling, which may, or may not, be approved by the Department of Education.

The department defines home-based education as education programmes for learners, alternative to public and independent school attendance.

It is provided under the supervision of parents and can include tutoring and other educational support in specific areas of the curriculum. From Grade 9, other alternative options are available.

Parents have to apply for permission from the department in terms of Section 51 of the Schools Act.
Parents apply through the Head of the Department’s Inclusive Education Directorate.

A pre-registration visit by a department official to verify the teaching and learning space and time tables will be conducted.
The department official will develop a monitoring schedule that is communicated to parents.

Evidence of daily tasks, assessments and creative projects will be monitored stringently.

There are presently 908 home education learners registered in Mpumalanga with 378 home based education sites.

Parents can either continue with homeschooling through respective schools, with learners only going in for tests and assessments, or register on a home based schooling provider online.

Learners with pre-existing conditions like diabetes, HIV, cancer, asthma and other associated immune deficiency conditions, should not send their children to school and apply with the schools they are registered with for a continuation of the present model of home schooling applied by all local schools.

Learners with pre-existing conditions are incredibly vulnerable to contract Covid-19.
They are also at a much higher risk for life threatening symptoms.

Parents, however, have to apply through the department which will then direct and advise on options.

Some local schools threaten to de-register children who do not return to school, which will have to be done if independent homeschooling models are followed.
Local schools have implemented preventative strategies to combat the spread of the disease.

Many infected people do not show any signs of illness at all, unknowingly spreading the virus.

Schools have called on parents to be “open and honest” in their communication and keep their children at home if any signs of illness are present.

Schools have also mostly abandoned their attendance policies due to the pandemic.