Parents given ultimatum to enrol kids in state school

THE KwaZulu-Natal government has threatened to place three girls who are being home-schooled in foster care unless their parents enrol them in a state school tomorrow.

The unorthodox couple, who never studied beyond Grade 12 and describe themselves as devoted Jehovah's Witnesses and yet have all the hallmarks of Rastafarians, had converted their two-bedroom home into a makeshift school.

The only subjects being taught were English, Zulu and basic mathematics.

Their daughters, aged between 8 and 16, who wear headscarves covering their unkempt dreadlocks, are occasionally given chores in between classes and are allowed to fish and swim in the scenic Shong-weni Dam, south of Durban.

As part of their lax education, they also tend to the family's chickens in the cramped yard.

Dressed in long, flowing dresses, the girls remain largely on the family's plot, nestled in the settlement that is crisscrossed by a maze of gravel paths.

The provincial department of social development began investigating the family last week. Department of education officials were roped in this week.

"The constitution states every child has a right to an education [and] officials had to explain to [the couple] that keeping their children at home was a violation of their constitutional rights," said social development MEC Weziwe Thusi.

More than 330000 children of schoolgoing age do not attend school in South Africa, according to the Children's Institute, a child policy research institute.

Social development officials issued the couple with a notice last week threatening to place the children in foster care.

But on Thursday, the 43-year-old father, a cobbler, said their religion did not allow for children to go to school. Two daughters, aged 10 and 16, stopped going to school in 2009. The eight-year-old has never been.

"Schools nowadays don't even teach kids about the word of God," the father said, adding that he had also lost faith in South Africa's education system.

"We decided against sending them to school because of our religious beliefs," he said.

However, Jehovah's Witnesses of South Africa spokesman Roy Cox said the church did not advocate parents not sending their children to school.

"We have a high regard for basic education in a government or private schooling system and responsible home-schooling is an individual choice.

"Families taking on the responsibility [of home schooling] should meet the necessary requirements," he said.

According to the department of education, parents who want to teach their children at home have to apply at the department's provincial office.

Unable to buy learning materials such as text books for the children, the couple borrow from their neighbours.

The mother, who dropped out in Grade 5, said the government's ultimatum was unfair.

She said the education that she provided her children was "adequate".