NCHENZ

Please read the Guide to the Correspondence School first if you are not familiar with  TCS.

The Correspondence School (TCS)
TCS is regular school just like the one down the road. It’s only difference is that it’s main purpose is to provide a free, fully funded state education for those students who for one reason or another are unable to physically attend that local school. To be eligibile the student must meet and be approved of according to a strict list of criteria – for instance, they live too far away, or are itinerant, or have health problems.

Enrolment at The Correspondence School
Thus, the categories of enrolment at TCS really comes down to this: Either a student meets the eligibility criteria in which case they are freely entitled to an education. Or they do not meet the eligibility criteria, in which case they *may* be asked to pay a fee. TCS covers both situations under the Education Act.

If a student is under 16 and not eligible, then they must enrol at a regular school. If they hold an exemption they can enrol at TCS as non-eligible fee paying students, but most homeschoolers don’t do this because the fees are prohibitive in this age bracket (think $1000 per subject).

If the student is 16 or over (no upper limit) and not eligible, then they are regarded as adult students, and can access TCS provided they are not already enrolled at a regular school (which is possible up until the end of the year in which a child turns 19). Homeschooling students typically enrol at this point simply because the fees are considerably reduced or even free.

Homeschoolers, TCS, and the exemption certificate
The exemption certificate expires naturally at aged 16. This is because the exemption exempts the child from the compulsion to attend school, and compulsory schooling finishes at this age. Thus from the 16th birthday, the exemption has no legal force,  the student is no longer bound by s.21, and their previously exempted status has no legal bearing or significance at all.

This is a point we tend to get very confused about, and it is evident when we ask such questions as: “Is my 16 year still homeschooling when he is at TCS?” It is precisely the wrong question and the wrong terminology because “homeschooling” has nothing to do with the Education Act. The Education Act talks only in terms of the legal compulsion to attend school and exemptions from that compulsion.

The Homeschooling Allowance
The HA is a freebie, a gift, an allowance. We have no rights to it. It was granted to us by a previous Min of Ed who was nice, and it has been continued ever since by equally nice people. What has been giveth, can be taken away. The allowance is pegged to the exemption. Under 16, the situation is clear enough. Over 16 however, it pays to go straight to the horse’s mouth: I quote from the Ministry of Education Homeschooling Deskfile (ie official policy for their departments and staff to follow):

“Section 2.7 Homeschooling over Sixteen Years:  On receipt of a statutory declaration, the supervision allowance will continue to be paid for previously exempted students now over the age of 16. Payment ceases at the end of the calendar year in which the student reaches his/her 19th birthday, provided s/he is still being homeschooled. ”

And…

“Section 5.1.2:  If a  young person is enrolled at TCS as a fee paying adult secondary student, payment continues until the end of the year in which the young person turns 19 years of age.”

TCS and Giving up the Exemption
This issue only became a problem a couple of years ago when there was a change to the adult fee structure. Previously, all adults 16 and over had to pay $80 per subject. Then in order to attract early school leavers to complete their education as adults, the fee was split into 2 categories based on age. Adults16-19 (now to be called “Young Adults”) pay a zero fee  and adults over 19 pay $100 per subject.

While superficially the fee structure and terminology has changed, nothing else has. The Education Act remains the same, the two types of enrolment at TCS (eligible or non eligible) remains the same. The non Eligible students are still in the fee paying category, it’s just that the fee has been set at zero. (The legislation says the MOE “may” set a fee, not that they have to for this category). A zero fee is a zero fee — it is not the same as free entitlement to a NZ education at TCS.

The confusion for TCS apparently stemmed from the MOE computer. The exemption expires at 16 of course, but homeschooling students over 16 who continue to receive the allowance remain in the database just as if the exemption was still current. I guess it was easier to administer the allowance this way, than change the system. TCS saw the names, assumed the exemption was still in force, got mixed up with whole zero fee Young Adult status of non-eligible, fee paying adult students, and got horribly confused. (I have some sympathy. They don’t make it easy for themselves or for us, and their terms are very loose and misleading). As a result, they insisted that previously exempted students (note the terminology) give up their defunct and worthless bits of paper before they could enrol at TCS.  When homeschoolers returned their bits of paper, I think it was understood by the MOE as a request by the parent to stop the allowance.

If you can make sense of all that, you have done well. You are better off than most of the people you will deal with at TCS. For your own sakes, you should not homeschool without being prepared to understand the legislation, and policies that affect your ability to do so. To do this you need to know:

1. The Education Act, (sections 7 and 21) which is online
2. The MOE desk file (I have a copy or you can order your own under the Official Information Act)
3. And if you have not already done so, join NCHENZ (National Council of Home Educators of NZ) – it is only $5 or $10 to do so. Many of these sorts of issues are not sorted out at a local support group level, but require the input and experience and support of people around the country. Otherwise, we end up fighting each battle as individuals where we can picked off one by one as has happened in this case.

Kay