Sunday, June 7, 2015

Re: [IAC#RG] Need help securing the rights of homeschoolers

Sarbajit,

Would the religious belief work as "atheism" or "rationalism" - as in, wanting to raise children without prayer beginning the learning day and to scrutinize everything - which schools do not do? A court had ruled in favor of a teacher refusing to fold hands in prayer because he was atheist. However a child will not have the liberty to disobey in such a manner, besides, the conditioning is harmful for our beliefs ;) http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Teacher-cannot-be-forced-to-fold-hands-in-school-prayers-Bombay-high-court/articleshow/25137023.cms

The RTE does not allow homeschooling. In the case of Shreya Sahai, the govt had actually filed an affidavit in court saying that they don't mind homeschooling and got challenged and had to resumbit saying RTE does not allow homeschooling.

The RTE enforcement is happening in stages and disabled children being home in preparation for school does not count as them being allowed to homeschool.

This will help current homeschoolers who are anxious about threats to their freedom. However, in terms of a child's rights, this is more a workaround than endorsement that they have a right to the best education available to them and customized to their needs. 

Many homeschoolers are not really from religious minorities. Besides, homeschooling is a choice of education, not religion. So there ought to be some way to explicitly endorse the possibility of customized education for children with reasonable exceptions to the "Every child between 7 - 14" rule. Disability is one. Schools nationwide are hardly equipped to deal with disability. Nor are parents of disabled children easily able to make extensive efforts that taking some of them to school would involve. many disabled children, for example mine - would simply not have the energy to last through a day of school, let alone learn anything. Parents who train children toward specific accomplishments - for example art or sports or even "scientific geniuses" would prefer to not waste time on school and instead work toward their goal.

As long as the child's learning is being accommodated well (which is something apparently not even expected from schools), there shouldn't be a need for people to lie or spend extensive effort and money to simply give their child to learn. This discriminates against poorer homeschoolers.

However, I will discuss this idea within the community, and see if we can create a minority school as well as any questions/concerns that arise.

Vidyut

Vidyut

Vidyut

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On Mon, Jun 8, 2015 at 6:56 AM, Sarbajit Roy <sroy.mb@gmail.com> wrote:
PIL as proposed will not fly

A legal solution to your problem is to take the religious route for MINORITIES .
Art 30(1) and obtain a certificate saying you are an Esperanto speaker / Anusthanic Brahmo Samajists etc. enabling you to run your own school

BTW: It seems the RTE Act acknowledges homeschooling


On Sun, Jun 7, 2015 at 12:12 AM, Vidyut <wide.aware@gmail.com> wrote:
The RTE does not allow homeschooling. The education system we have is frankly pathetic and does little to nothing to provide a useful foundation for life. We are still into memorizing and testing recall in an age of pen drives. Spending hours calculating square roots when every mobile has a calculator and we have more mobiles than toilets. On the other hand, things we'd imagine are life essentials - how is your electricity bill calculated and how to pay it or even what your rights are as a child and what can you do if your rights are violated is something you never learn in school.

TEN years of basic education does not make students competent for basic jobs and they must cater to the education inflation craze to be able to make a living. Ten years is a lot of time. We don't see a two hour film without checking reviews to see if it is worth it, yet think nothing of occupying ten of the most eventful years of a child's life with school.

What is it that the schooling system teaches and that we need in life that takes ten years to learn? 

Alternative schools and homeschooling parents attempt to make education more relevant and useful to children. Study after study has shown homeschooling in particular in far more favorable light than schooling systems.

India has a small but growing community of homeschoolers who are constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop as the noose tightens around their necks.

Most of us are determined that we'd rather face jail ourselves than send our beloved children into one. Yet we are left with little choice than to keep our heads down and continue our "illegal" activity (recently removing a child from school was also termed 'criminal'!) and hope that we never end up facing the law over it.

It also hinders the children's rights in many ways. Many events or competitions accept student entries through their schools and homeschoolers not having a school name to put in the form can become ineligible to participate. Scholarships that could dramatically enhance a child's scope (homeschooling isn't cheap) cannot be applied for without the name of the school where the child is learning.

Worse, there are places where officials from the education system keep visiting families to insist that the children be sent to school. Alarming reports of government notices to parents not sending children to school.

Would it be possible to file a PIL stating that while the RTE is an excellent MINIMUM to offer children, it is hardly the ideal education a child can receive and parents or organizations attempting to raise the bar should not be prevented and forced to accept the mediocre?

Advice would be much useful, as we are a small and scattered community with little experience with rights struggles and we have vulnerable children we want to do right to. So there is some fear of being in the government/judiciary's notice with our child's name on record as violating the RTE.

Vidyut

Vidyut

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