EduComply Services

EduComply is a initiative dedicated to helping small and independent schools comply with regulatory requirements without compromising educational freedom. Drawing from the rich diversity and innovation of the home education sector, EduComply helps schools navigate complex registration and accreditation processes — always with the best interests of the child at heart.

Navigating Registration with Confidence

Starting or formalizing an independent school can be daunting. The registration and accreditation process spans multiple regulatory layers — from municipal zoning to provincial registration and UMALUSI accreditation.

With over two decades of experience in legal defence, education policy, and civic engagement, EduComply offers schools a uniquely integrated compliance service that simplifies the process and safeguards your educational vision.

Our Services

Zoning and Municipal Compliance

Guidance in securing appropriate land use approvals (e.g. "Place of Instruction") from your local municipality.
Leverage of longstanding relationships with town planners, municipal officials, and building inspectors, built through years of civic leadership in the Milnerton and Cape Town Collective Residents Associations.
Innovative problem-solving for typical zoning and compliance challenges faced by small schools.

Registration with Provincial Education Departments

Step-by-step guidance through the application process to register as an independent school.
Assistance in crafting policy-aligned submissions that still reflect your school’s unique philosophy and learner needs.
Practical insight gained from helping multiple schools secure registration across provinces via the Pestalozzi Trust.

Accreditation with UMALUSI

End-to-end support in preparing for and achieving UMALUSI accreditation.
Help in aligning Montessori, Cambridge, faith-based, or other alternative curricula with the UMALUSI framework — without compromising your educational identity.

Alternative and Specialised Curricula Support

Extensive experience with schools that do not follow CAPS or cater to niche learner communities.
Help with documenting and presenting your educational model to regulators in a compliant and strategic manner.
Advocacy for the educational freedom of your institution within the bounds of current legislation.
Optional visibility through SAHomeschoolers.Org to a targeted audience of like-minded families and educators.

Why Choose EduComply?

Legal and Strategic Expertise:
Bouwe van der Eems, founder of EduComply, served as trustee and chairman of the Pestalozzi Trust for 22 years, defending the rights of small schools and home educators.
Policy and Regulatory Knowledge:
Author of regulatory studies for DieMOS and advisor to schools navigating legal uncertainty.
Trusted Advocate and Liaison:
Decades of experience working with provincial departments, municipalities, and education stakeholders.
Political and Legislative Experience:
Direct involvement in the drafting and enacting of the BELA Bill and related regulations — giving EduComply unmatched insight into current and upcoming policy frameworks.

Towards compliance and recognition

Every school is different, and the journey to registration can look different too. EduComply can’t promise the same result for everyone — but what we do promise is expert guidance, support, and a clear pathway through the process.

Whether you’re starting a cottage school, building a faith-based initiative, or running an innovative new model, EduComply will walk alongside you toward compliance and recognition, without compromising your values.

To register an independent school is a unpredictable process that can span over a long period. For this reason the service is structured as follows:

A free initial consultation in which the situation is assessed and next steps are identified.
Based on the situation assessment, a quotation will be provided based on an hourly rate billed on a monthly basis.
Once the quotation is accepted, EduComply will guide the process until successful registration is accomplished.

If you are interested in this service, send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

There are various ways to find learning centres. ... Since there is no central registry of learning centres, they are often operated from private homes and many are not registered as a private school, these learning centres are difficult to find. The SAHomeschoolers assists parents to find learning centres in different ways.

Unregistered private schools often do not want their details to be made public, since that could expose them to prosecution by government officials. To enable parents to find such learning centres, SAHomeschoolers maintains a confidential learning centre mailing list of such learning centres. Through the SAHomeschoolers website, parents looking for a learning centre can send a message to this mailing list. Learning centres that can assist these parents will them contact them directly. Click here to send a message to the learning centre mailing list.

Tags: cottage school

Homeschool, micro-school, learning centre, unregistered private school, low-fee school and cottage school are names that refer to small independent or private schools that are operated by a small group of entrepreneurs, parents, ex-teachers or volunteers. This fast-growing phenomenon was acknowledged in a 2010 research paper by the Centre for Development and Enterprise, which described it as South Africa’s "hidden asset". This research was followed by a 2012 report with the title "Promoting school choice for the poor" and a 2013 report with the title "Affordable private schools in South Africa".

These types of schools are growing quickly in countries such as India, Pakistan, Chile, Ghana and Colombia, but they also occur in a highly regulated countries such as the Netherlands. In Nepal, Uttam Sanjel, a former actor, started a network of bamboo schools to provide private education to poor children.

A more recent development is boutique schools. These schools are fast replacing the more traditional private schools. Learning is blended, the schools are progressive and the teachers are mentors. Boutique schools are generally bigger than cottage schools and learning centres as they can accommodate up to 50 students, but are still smaller than typical private schools.

THE LEGAL ENVIRONMENT

Although South African citizens have the constitutional right (article 29(3)) to operate independent or private schools, many of these schools are not registered with the provincial government. According to the report this is because these schools are expected to meet a large number of strict requirements set by officials who have no knowledge of independent or private education. Sometimes it also takes years to register an independent or private school.

Officials at the Department of Education are generally negative about small independent or private schools and view them as “fly by nights” that exploit parents by charging high fees and delivering low quality education. Due to this, the provincial government actively attempts to close down unregistered independent or private schools.

SUPPORT LEARNING CENTRES

SAHomeschoolers.org supports learning by offering the following services.

A Private Connect service through which parents can contact unregistered independent or private schools without exposing the details of the organisation.
The EduComply consulting service that assist learning centres to register learning centre without compromising their character.

COTTAGE SCHOOL LinkedIn GROUP

A LinkedIn group has been created where operators of learning centres can interact with each other.

Tags: cottage school

Important considerations when starting a learning centre ... ... ...

Home school , micro school , learning centre , unregistered private school, low fee school and cottage school are all different terms that are used to refer to a new fast growing phenomenon in the South African educational environment. These are (mostly) small independent or private schools that are operated by a small group of entrepreneurs, parents, ex-teachers or volunteers. If you are interested in starting a learning centre, you can follow the steps below:

Engage with EduComply : According to art.29(3) of the constitution, everyone has the right to establish and maintain an independent educational institution that is registered with the state. Unfortunately provincial authorities make it difficult to register by requiring citizens to meet burdensome and illegal requirements. EduComply will provide guidance on how to handle the registration process and how to avoid conflict between the school and the authorities, so that you can focus on getting the learning centre started.
Join the Learning Centre Mailing List : If you are operating a learning centre, or are supporting learning centres, and you want to receive messages from parents searching for a centre, your email address should be added to the Learning Centre Mailing List. In order to get added to this mailing list, please send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This service is offered free of charge. The mailing list is confidential and will not be made available to third parties.

Tags: learning centre

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Frequently Asked Questions

How does homeschooling work?
Homeschooling is different for every family as it depend on the parents educational goals for their children Education is the development of the...
Can I be a working mom and homeschool?
Single parents who are committed to homeschool organize a schedule around their work commitments and sometimes involve family or tutors to assist...
Do home learners sometimes wish they were in school and were normal?
They generally like being homeschooled. Some homelearners go to school for the experience but many return to homeschooling as within the homeschool...
Do I need to be a qualified teacher?
No. Research has found no correlation between the qualification of the parent and the academic performance of the child. Research shows that...