Homeschooling in India during Covid-19 Pandemic

Homeschooling is a progressive movement that is happening across the world and in India by which parents educate their children at home instead of sending them to a traditional public or private school. Whilst homeschooling has been in existence for quite some time, it has gained greater momentum and interest in lieu of the current Coronavirus pandemic and also the fear of another wave of the pandemic. In the absence of a vaccine, parents are fearful of sending their children to school. Further, many households do not have access to remote learning devices and technologies and those who do have access are not satisfied with the quality of teaching rendered. Let us try to find out whether homeschooling can be a viable mode of study, its legality, and how effective would be its implementation

Homeschooling essentially means the education of children at home by their parents instead of the conventional method of sending children to study in traditional schools, whether private or public. Homeschooling is a movement which has progressed from the 1970’s and is considered to be legal in many countries of the world. According to the National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI), there are more than 2 million children undergoing homeschooling in the US, with the numbers rapidly increasing each year. Over the years homeschooling has emerged and grown as an alternative option for many parents who have been disillusioned with the existing educational system. Whilst homeschooling is regarded as legal in many countries of the world, there are quite a few countries which regard it as illegal. Even within a country, different states may have different laws regarding homeschooling. Hence it would be better to check whether you comply with the state’s requirements.

Some parents decide early on that they want to homeschool their child and, therefore, never enrolls their child into a traditional school. However, some other parents decide to homeschool only a few years after having enrolled their child into a traditional school. In India, many parents are ignorant about the concept of homeschooling. Parents enroll their children in regular schools, despite not being dissatisfied with the traditional schooling system. With the sudden outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, when online teaching was thrust upon teachers by educational institutions, the dissatisfaction became even more prominent. Many parents became aware of the poor quality of teaching. Though it is true that most teachers were not prepared/trained for online teaching, parents discovered that many of them could not speak properly, had very bad accents and that the subjects taught were done in a very mechanical and uninteresting manner. If adults found it uninteresting, how can we expect children to get interested and understand the topics?

Let us try to further understand the concept of homeschooling and in this process to understand how it is different from various other concepts such as deschooling, unschooling, blended learning and so on. Also, let us understand the challenges and implications of homeschooling.

CONCEPT OF DESCHOOLING AND UNSCHOOLING:-

The transition of a child from a traditional school to homeschooling is called deschooling. The major difference between unschooling and homeschooling is the approach to learning. In a homeschooling environment, parents act as teachers in the classroom. Unschooling operates with the faith that children are naturally curious and will follow their interests in their way.

REASONS WHY PARENTS DECIDE UPON HOMESCHOOLING:–

The reasons for this could be any/many of the following:-

1. A bad experience at a traditional school
2. Disagreements with school’s administrative policies
3. Poor infrastructure
4. Lack of qualified staff
5. Lack of attention by teachers
6. Favouritism is shown by teachers
7. The child is insulted and humiliated publicly
8. Something like the current situation that the world is facing, viz., the Covid-19 pandemic
9. The bad financial condition of a family
10. The child is made a victim of racism
11. The child feels marginalized based on race, nationality, colour, gender, physical handicap
12. The child has attention deficit disorder or hyperactivity disorder
13. The child has a kinesthetic learning style
14. The child is subjected to bullying and school violence
15. To avoid body shaming
16. The child has suffered sexual abuse from students/teachers
17. To avoid indulging in sexual relationships
18. To avoid bad company leading to harmful activities such as smoking, drinking, drugs, etc.
19. The indifference of teachers and management in helping students deal with issues
20. The child is struggling with subjects and loses interest in learning
21. The child is extremely gifted and gets easily bored with his classes
22. The child has special needs such as sensory impairment or learning disabilities
23. The child has social anxiety problems
24. If the family relocates itself quite frequently
25. If the family wants to teach the child a curriculum which is based more on their moral and religious beliefs

STATUS OF HOMESCHOOLING IN INDIA:-

In India, there is no authority for homeschoolers. Homeschooling is also not regarded as illegal. However, the Right to Education, Act (RTE) makes it mandatory for all children aged between 6-14 years to be educated. Parents have the right to decide upon the type of education to be provided to their children. At their own risk, parents can choose to homeschool. Parents can follow any curriculum of their choice, including NIOS (National Institute of Open Schooling) and Cambridge (IGCSE). In India, both these curriculums accept private candidates for exams. In India, homeschooling as an alternative mode of schooling is more prevalent in urban areas. However, a considerable presence is also being felt in small towns. Some prominent internet resources include the following:-

• Alternative Education in India: Isha Home School-Coimbatore, Secmol-Ladakh, Rishi Valley School-Andhra Pradesh, Shibumi School-Bengaluru, Sahyadri School-Pune, Mirambika Free Progress School-New Delhi, Abhaya School-Hyderabad
• Pune schoolers – Swashikshan – Indian Association of Homeschoolers
• Cascade Family Learning Society – A Society for Home Schooled Children in Chennai, India

Besides, there are conferences, social meetups, apprenticeships and several other organized group activities that allow for knowledge-sharing regularly. There are examples of many homeschooled children in India who are very successful in life, including some from rural areas.

CROSS-CHECKS TO BE UNDERTAKEN BEFORE HOMESCHOOLING:-

1. Check out the legal position of your country and state: In many countries of the world, homeschooling is legal, whereas in some others it is illegal. In some countries, though homeschooling is legal, few states within that country may consider it to be illegal. Therefore, make a thorough study of the law of your country as well as state before embarking upon homeschooling.
2. Check out the minimum qualification required to carry out homeschooling: Generally, there is no minimum qualification required for homeschooling. However, some countries specify a minimum qualification. Hence, check up on this
3. Never make a spur of the moment decision
4. Write down your thoughts for better clarity
5. Discuss with spouse and immediate family members
6. Do not neglect to seek children’s opinion in this matter
7. Analyse the time that you can devote to it
8. Analyse your passion and determination for the same
9. Analyse the support of your family members
10. Check out support groups

EFFECTIVE WAYS TO MAKE HOMESCHOOLING WORK:-

In order that homeschooling works in your favour, you must fulfill the following criteria’s:-

1. You must love being around with children, enjoying their company, energy and their passions: Most children are very energetic and raring to go. They hardly take rest and always keep raising numerous questions with their elders. If you have adequate time to devote to them, sufficient energy to match with theirs, willingness to answer their numerous questions, howsoever weird and silly it may be, be child-like with them, be creative and spontaneous while indulging in activities with them, accepts their foolishness and messiness, along with the desire to teach them, then half the battle is won
2. The education provided is generally unstructured and parents allow children to lead the process: The child should be allowed to follow his/her passion and decide how to spend the time. There should be no specific time to carry out a particular activity. Children can indulge in games and play for as much time as they want. They should be given the liberty to study only those subjects which are of interest to them. The traditional school curriculum is not followed. The child is allowed to explore and discover his/her passion. Unlike traditional schools, the child must be allowed to combine varied subjects such as math with arts and so on. Also, do not make the curriculum grade-specific or age-specific. Therefore, the child can choose to learn a subject which is way ahead for his age.
3. Expose your children to different people, places and situations: Generally, there is a fear amongst parents undertaking to homeschool that their child will be cut-off from his/her peers and feel lonely. They also feel that the child may become over-dependent upon the parents/family. Their socialization and interpersonal skills may get severely affected. This misgiving can be overcome if the children are allowed to mingle with people of various ages, taken to visit museums and monuments, historical places, planetariums, theatres, concerts, office/industries, pilgrimage centres, picnics, walks, nature hikes and adventure trips. Even frequent visits to friends and relatives, activities with other parents /neighbours, visits to parks, volunteer work, and sports events will help
4. Finally, follow the formalities required in leaving the school: If you have decided to go ahead with homeschooling of a child who has been until recently enrolled in a traditional school, it is better to follow proper exit policies for your child or else you may be questioned by law enforcing authorities of your state. While exiting from a traditional school, you have a choice to inform the school about your plans to carry out homeschooling and also subsequent plans, if any, of re-enrolling them if it does not work out in your favour. You also have a choice of not giving them the real reason for exiting from the school. However, all this does not apply to children who have never been enrolled in a traditional school

ADVANTAGES OF HOMESCHOOLING:-

1. Ensures flexibility: Homeschooling offers great flexibility as compared to a traditional school. You can customize your child’s experiences to suit their particular needs, interests and passion. For example, your child may have a great aptitude for some subjects but must be struggling with a few other subjects. In such cases, you can modify the curriculum to suit their requirements. You can also allow your child to have a short attention span on some days or with some subjects. Let them study the subjects when they feel like studying. It is possible that just before bedtime your daughter may want to do a science experiment. Just go with the flow. You can also allow younger children to study older children’s books and work on projects together
2. Customised schooling to meet special needs:  In the case of children with physical impairments or learning disabilities, the learning can be customized to meet their special needs. Learning materials and equipment, and the physical set up of the work area can all be customized to suit their learning needs.
3. Enables maturity and emotional balance: Since a homeschooled child is better exposed to people of varied ages, gender, cultures, places and situations, they are more matured in handling challenges and adverse situations in life. They are more realistic and better prepared to face threats. In a traditional school, children lead protected lives and are not much exposed to the realities of life. The school may arrange a yearly trip which is generally guided and chaperoned by teachers. The students are always shepherded by their teachers. Also, students have to take permission slips to leave the school premises during working hours
4. Avoids social anxiety: Some children suffer from severe social anxiety. They are not capable of getting along with other children, having friends, and find it difficult to answer teachers in a class even for little issues. They get nervous and break down into tears if a question is directed at them. They are very sensitive and needs to be dealt with a lot of patience, encouragement and kindness. If such children have earlier made attempts to cope up in traditional schools, undergone therapy from a counsellor but have still not got over their anxiety problems, it would be better to get them homeschooled. They will get the necessary safety and protection from a homeschool
5. Provides Stability: Where parents have jobs that require them to relocate to different destinations and thereby change their children’s schools quite often, it would be better to homeschool. Homeschools remain constant, wherever the family goes and hence provides the necessary stability to a child. The child is not forced to frequently adapt to different environments, classmates, teachers, different styles of learning and varied school management policies
6. Avoids school violence: There have been many instances of school dropouts, especially in western countries, attacking their educational institutions and inmates by wielding weapons such as guns and bombs. Many students, teachers and administrative staff have lost their lives in this process. There are also increasing reports of school bullying, sexual texting and sexual indulgences by students and also by teachers. The school management tries to hush up these matters lest it affects their reputation
7. Avoids alcohol and drugs: Many children who are enrolled in traditional schools indulge in alcoholic drinks, smoking and drugs. These activities generally happen in/near most educational campuses. The parents are mostly unaware of such indulgences by their wards. Students procure these items secretly and spend huge amounts on them. It’s only after these children are thoroughly addicted, consistently performs badly in academics, loses interest in life, and wastes a huge chunk of parent’s money that the latter becomes aware of it
8. Increases family bonding: Deeper relationship develops between parents and children and amongst siblings because of homeschooling. In traditional schooling, children remain mainly focused on school work and other activities conducted by the school. However, under homeschooling, the parents can closely monitor, observe and dwell on the inherent strengths and weaknesses of their children and mould them suitably
9. Reduced costs: Many schools charge exorbitantly in the name of tuition fees, sports, cultural activities, picnic, uniform, school bus, and graduation function charges, etc. They also coerce students and parents to buy tickets for funding the expenses of a new building on the campus under the justification that it is built for the future of the students. Under homeschooling, all these expenses can be avoided. Also homeschooling parents can avoid going on trips during times of the regular school vacation as the expenses of travel and lodging will be a lot costlier during such times. Instead, they can take their children on trips during the off-peak/lull periods which will help them in further reducing the costs
10. Increased health benefits: Homeschooling children always gets to eat freshly-made home-cooked food and therefore, enjoys good health. They do not become susceptible to infectious diseases. So, the risk of the child falling sick is low and this, in turn, lowers hospital costs.

CHALLENGES INVOLVED IN HOMESCHOOLING:-

1. Not suitable for parents who cannot devote adequate time to their children
2. Not suitable for parents who are generally impatient with their children or get irritated easily
3. Not advisable if adequate support is not available from spouse and immediate family members
4. Not advisable if neighbours and relatives criticism affects your decision
5. Homeschooling is unconventional. Therefore, you may not get adequate support from society
6. Tutors may have to be appointed if the parent is not educated
7. Since there is no defined curriculum, the child may not benefit
8. During college education, the child will not be able to cope with the pressures of studies
9. In college life, the child will not be able to mingle with other students
10. Protecting children from incest
11. It can be very exhausting for the parents and some may decide to abandon it mid-way
12. Many parents feel that homeschooled children will not be accepted by employers
13. The NEP, 2020 seeks to address some of the issues relating to curriculum although it is quite early to understand its impact

With several parents working from home during the Covid-19 pandemic and schools closed for more than a few months, many parents have accidentally become homeschoolers and are also enjoying the process. Also, those parents who were previously observing other homeschooled children but were hesitant to take this step have now decided to take the plunge, all because of the pandemic. In India, people are quickly becoming aware of the homeschooling concept because of social media and due to the fact that they have sufficient time to browse through various resources. Parents are reluctant to send their children to schools even when the schools are proclaiming that all protocols are put in place. Parents are expecting a resurgence of the pandemic and do not believe that their children can be safe even with staggered timings of schools, isolated lunches, not using playgrounds, provision of isolation rooms for children with cough and fever, wearing of masks, social distancing, washing of hands and maintenance of hygiene. Parents feel that if they send their children to schools, instead of focusing on studies, their children would now be focusing more on what they can touch and what they cannot, about staying apart from their classmates and being unhappy about not being able to play with their best friends. The Covid-19 pandemic has indeed been a learning curve for both parents and students as they are discovering new ways to adapt to this strange environment. More parents are showing an upward interest in homeschooling even if it is for a temporary duration until a vaccine is found. In pursuance of this, they have begun researching how to homeschool and they are also requesting for workshops from successfully home-schooled parents. This crisis has sparked an interest in alternative ways to educate.

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