Registration of homelearners by national government?

Tuisskolers.org has reported in March 2011 that the provincial education department in the Eastern Cape has failed to such an extent that the national department of education had to take over some of the functions of the provincial department. There are no indications that this interference from national government has made any difference in the province.

Last week, the following was reported in the media : "The central government acted to take almost complete control of Limpopo province, and to directly intervene in key provincial departments in the Free State and Gauteng. The surprise move appears to have been designed to both fix crippling delivery problems and to strengthen President Jacob Zuma’s hand in on-going political infighting in the ruling ANC. The decision, taken at a special cabinet meeting, means that cabinet ministers will take over the running of five provincial departments in Limpopo, while Gauteng and Free State departments will receive ‘help’ without being administered by the central government."

It seems therefore that the trend of national government taking over the functions of provincial government is becoming a general trend. The registration of homelearners is currently a function performed by provicial departments. However, if this trend continues, it might lead to the situation where the registration of home learners will become a function performed by the national department of basic education. This might have advantages, but also disadvantages. Only time will tell what effect this trend will have on homeschoolers.