Home education is a decentralized form of education that takes place in the private sphere of the home. Decisions are made by parents and no state funding is required. Research consistently shows that learners educated at home often perform as well, or better than, their peers in traditional schools. 

Despite these positive outcomes, a few influential stakeholders in education view home education as a threat. For the state in general, home education reduces control over the information transmitted to the next generation of voters. For education departments, it decreases income tied to the number of children in the school system. For teachers’ unions, it reduces the demand for registered teachers. In response to these perceived threats, the BELA Act introduces measures that address these concerns, while thousands of objections submitted by affected parents during public participation were largely ignored.

The BELA Act introduces a system of universal, compulsory and conditional registration for home learners. All home learners must be added to a central registration database. This makes homeschooling families regulatable and prosecutable, enabling the enforcement of registration conditions. One of the registration conditions is the prescription of curriculum, to ensure state control over the skills and contents transmitted to the next generation of voters. Another is monitoring by registered teachers, increasing the demand for teachers. The administration of registration, monitoring and enforcement will require additional officials in education departments.

Now that the BELA Act is enacted, education departments face the significant challenge of ensuring the majority of home learners are registered. Enforcing compliance could be difficult due to flaws in the law, the substantial administrative burden required to prove non compliance, and the complexities of prosecuting administrative negligence as a criminal offense, especially is a time of budgetary constraints. Achieving compliance through a marketing campaign would also be challenging, because there are no clear benefits to promote. The most effective strategy may involve fear campaigns designed to coerce homeschooling families into voluntary compliance.

However, creating a system built on fear could result in a surreal situation where the state pretends to be in control while parents increasingly realize that it is all smoke and mirrors that serves nobody's interest. Such campaigns would likely be as ineffective and meaningless as those urging citizens to pay TV licenses for a broadcaster that has become largely irrelevant.

Perhaps a more meaningful approach would be to acknowledge that registration can benefit certain families, such as foster families, divorced parents or parents who intend to homeschool temporarily before placing their children back in school. For these families, official registration offers legal recognition of their homeschooling choice, which can be valuable in navigating difficult situations or ensuring a seamless return to the school system. A voluntary registration system with clear, flexible conditions could provide such practical support. By leveraging the discretionary powers granted to provincial MEC's under the Schools Act, such a system can be designed to meet the needs of these families without placing unnecessary administrative burdens on education departments. 

With the BELA Act now in effect, initiating meaningful dialogue on an alternative implementation of the homeschooling clause could pave the way for a balanced solution - one that respects parental rights while addressing the genuine needs of families.

Discussions on such an approach are already in motion. The Cape Home Educators (CHE) shared the proposal with the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) in September 2024 to initiate a process aimed at addressing the concerns raised by the BELA Act homeschool clause. CHE proposed a moratorium on the penalty clause and the establishment of a mediation process to explore balanced solutions. The WCED suggested that this proposal be presented to the national Department of Basic Education (DBE). Following a meeting on November 1, the DBE requested a revised version of the proposal, accompanied by a legal brief. CHE submitted the revised proposal on January 22, 2025.