The Death Knell For The School Bell

Long distances, falling standards, bad memories of boarding-school life and the high cost of private schooling are just a few reasons why increasing numbers of platteland parents are choosing to educate their children at home. Alette de Beer takes a look at this development.

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We are all familiar with those “first day at school” photos: a plucky, gaptoothed child, all bony knees and combed fringe, dressed in an uncomfortable uniform and completely dwarfed by the suitcase they are carrying.

Behind every child who’s been declared school ready stands a parent or two with a lump in their throat. Especially for countless people in the platteland, where the first day of school marks the start of a series of difficult choices: do you send your child to the school in town where numbers are dwindling and the academics are average? Do you drive the 70km-100km from the farm to the school and back again twice a day? Do mom and child live in the “town house” during the week while dad holds the fort back at the farm? Or do you put the apple of your eye in the hostel of a good school where no one has any idea what the Grade 7 louts get up to after lights-out? 

These days, a growing number of South Africans are opting for homeschooling. Your children remain in their relaxed home environment where they play with siblings and friends, and between climbing trees, setting the table, milking the cows, fetching eggs and playing pranks, they also learn to read, write, spell and count. They learn how to build robots, make knives and repair cars. They master design programmes and higher grade maths: they dance, play music, swim, do gymnastics or sewing… anything.