If ever there was a year when parents and children lost freedom in education, it was 2014. Public schools lost the freedom to choose textbooks, pupils lost freedom to choose subjects, compulsory school attendance is extended,  the administrative burden of private schools increases and National Curriculum is extended to birth. All these changes were announced by the Minister of Basic Education, without anyone making much of a fuss. Public schools lose...

The discussions have continued in the same positive spirit as the first day. From the side of the homeschoolers, Bouwe van der Eems and Marie Kuhlmann gave a presentation on "What do homeschoolers from the state?". After this there were a number of presentations on open learning and assesment. The last speaker was Dr. Trevor Coombe from the Department of Basic Education (DBE). He gave an overview of the main points...