Dear Joint Constitutional Review Committee,

We (the Home Education Liberation Project) respectfully submit for the Committee's consideration a proposal to amend section 29 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, by introducing a new subsection expressly recognising alternative education, including home education, as a lawful form of non-state education.

The proposed amendment does not create a new constitutional right or reduce the State's responsibility to regulate education. It seeks to provide constitutional recognition of a lawful form of education already recognised in South African legislation and to distinguish clearly between institutional and non-institutional education.

While section 29(3) protects independent educational institutions, it does not expressly recognise lawful non-institutional education such as home education. This has contributed to uncertainty where regulatory approaches designed for schools are applied to fundamentally different educational models.

Express constitutional recognition would be consistent with section 29(2), which acknowledges educational alternatives, and with South Africa's international human rights obligations recognising both every child's right to education and the liberty of parents to direct their children's education, subject to appropriate State regulation.

Accordingly, we propose that section 29(3) remain unchanged and that the following subsection be inserted:

29(3A) Everyone has the right, at their own expense, to provide or receive alternative education outside an educational institution, including home education and other non-institutional forms of education that—
(a) respects the best interests of the child as contemplated in section 28(2); and
(b) is appropriate to the non-institutional nature of alternative education.

This amendment would improve constitutional clarity, align the Constitution with existing legislation and South Africa's international obligations, and provide an appropriate constitutional framework for regulating lawful alternative education while preserving the State's oversight role and protecting the rights of children.

We respectfully request that the Committee consider this proposal as part of its constitutional review process and would welcome the opportunity to provide any further information that may assist its deliberations.

Yours faithfully,

Stacey van der Walt, Elna Wichmann, Urchula Langenberg, Bonamy Parkin and Anna Checkley
(The Home Educators Liberation Project Collaboration)This version is approximately half the length of the original while preserving the key legal and constitutional arguments.