Irish Christian Home Educators Association - News

The Romeike Family: Still Waiting on Asylum Appeal

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 12:48:52 -0800

A law review article written by Miki Kawashima Matrician was published in the
May 2011 Boston College International and Comparative Law Review and
provides additional support for the Romeike family’s political asylum case. The
law review article, entitled “Germany Homeschoolers as ‘Particular Social
Group’: Evaluation Under Current U.S. Asylum Jurisprudence,” provides an
interesting and comprehensive analysis of this controversial and unsettled
aspect of U.S. asylum law. Many groups have attempted to seek asylum under the
status of a “particular social group,” including abused women, individual
families, taxi drivers, and gang recruits.

In January 2010, U.S. Immigration Judge Lawrence O. Burman granted the German
Romeike family political asylum in large part because of their membership in
the particular social group of “homeschoolers in Germany.” In a case that is
the first of its kind, Burman stated that “homeschoolers are a particular
social group that the German government is trying to suppress. This family has
a well-founded fear of persecution … therefore, they are eligible for asylum …
and the court will grant asylum.” The Romeike family fled Germany with their
children and were represented by HSLDA in their political asylum case.

The Romeikes’ case was immediately appealed by the Obama administration to
the federal Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), who have had the case since
July 2010 but have yet to make a final decision. In their appeal, the U.S.
Government Agency for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) called
homeschoolers too “amorphous” to be a “particular social group” and that “United
States law has recognized the broad power of the state to compel school
attendance and regulate curriculum and teacher certification” as well as the
“authority to prohibit or regulate homeschooling.”

Germany officially states that homeschooling is illegal, although more than
500 children are currently homeschooled in Germany. Virtually all operate
underground or face some type of court proceeding.

In her article, Matrician discusses in detail the definition and criteria of
“membership in a particular social group.” In light of the evidence, she argues,
the BIA should find that all German homeschoolers comprise a particular social
group, regardless of whether the Romeike family successfully established a
claim of well-founded fear of persecution. “Homeschoolers in Germany … are
perceived as a recognizable group by their alleged persecutor, as well as by
society at large—in Germany and abroad,” she concludes. “[The BIA] should
strive … to provide a safe haven for those in dire straits.”

HSLDA Director of International Relations Michael Donnelly notes the
article's importance:

“We have submitted the law review article as new evidence in the
Romeikes’ ground-breaking case. There is a strong argument in favor of
upholding Judge Burman’s decision to grant asylum to the Romeike family. We are
hopeful that this new evidence will further demonstrate to the BIA that
homeschoolers in Germany are members of a particular social group and that
Germany’s treatment of them is persecution and therefore that they qualify for
protection under U.S. asylum law.”

Global Human Rights Conference Includes Homeschooling

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 12:44:59 -0800

For the first time in its 50-year history, the World Congress on the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy included homeschooling on the agenda of its biannual global conference. Held in Frankfurt, Germany at Goethe University August 15–20, the congress attracted nearly 1,000 academics and legal practitioners. Experts in human rights gave papers at a special workshop, organized by Dr. John Warwick Montgomery, noted Christian apologist and distinguished professor of philosophy and Christian thought at Patrick Henry College. The workshop included presentations by Dr. Thomas Schirrmacher, a German theologian and director of the International Institute for Religious Freedom, and by Michael Donnelly, attorney and director for international affairs at the Homeschool Legal Defense Association.

In his paper, “The Justification of Home Schooling vis-a-vis the European Human Rights System,” Montgomery said that homeschooling should be tolerated in every country.

“The right of parents a priori to the state to make decisions about how and where their children are educated is a natural right and one that is founded on the basis of holy Scripture. While some governments may choose to regulate or oversee parents who choose this form of education, all governments should tolerate if not encourage it. That is why I thought it should be covered at this conference. I’m glad the organizers agreed with me.” Missed Opportunity Montgomery argued that the European Court of Human Rights has missed important opportunities to correctly apply human rights law to the conflict over homeschooling, instead deferring to current societal prejudices and predilections in favor of secular and statist presumptions. He wrote:

“At the deepest level culturally, increasing secularism in modern society— particularly as manifested in Europe—poses special difficulties. The secular mindset can (as in the Konrad opinion) lead courts to an unconscious acceptance of politically correct notions of educational ‘integration.’ Sadly, this also means that where constitutions and international human rights instruments are silent on an issue, the law will not appeal, as in the past, to the ‘higher law’ as set out in the holy Scriptures—the inalienable dignity of the human person, his family, and his personal decision-making, as John Locke derived these rights principally from biblical revelation—but will tend to defer to state power and bureaucracy, infused by prevailing pluralistic viewpoints. Where this occurs, the tragic result will be, not an increase in human rights protections but just the opposite. In that respect, the home schooling issue may serve as a litmus test to discerning jurists.” Schirrmacher, also a professor of sociology, presented “Compulsory Education in Schools only? Divergent Developments in Germany.” He noted that homeschooling is virtually impossible in Germany because of an aggressive attempt by “legal and sociological machinery” to repress the practice while ignoring regular and rampant truancy among public school children. Schirrmacher argued that the country’s federal child protection law that allows the Jugendamt, Germany’s child protection service, to take custody of children is being misused when applied to homeschoolers. “Parents,” he argues, “who want something different, are not to be placed on the same level as parents who are violent and let their children get into a bad state and who should be punished.”

National Socialism Influence Continues Schirrmacher points out that compulsory education through school attendance has a long history in Germany, but that the criminalization of homeschooling is a recent issue originating with the rise of national socialism. He wrote:

“Princes wanted all subjects to be good citizens and youth to be raised to be good soldiers. For the first time, as far as I can see, the principle of compulsory education is expressed in the Weimar School Regulations of 1919. Even though educational instruction at home was nevertheless able to have a niche existence, it is still the case that compulsory education as it developed did not serve the august democratic goals of equality and equal opportunity. Rather, it was a central and controlling element with which the state educated the population in accordance with its principles. . . national socialism made use of the fact that in any case all children had to learn according to the manner the state prescribed, and thus it merely eliminated free alternatives in private and alternative schools as well as in home educational instruction.” Schirrmacher was highly critical of the Germany’s use of criminal law to prosecute homeschooling parents.

“Modern democratic Germany should not use criminal law against parents who homeschool. There is no doubt that the current enforcement approach of jail, high fines and taking children from parents over education began with the national socialists.” Seeking Asylum HSLDA has reported on numerous cases where the German government persecutes homeschooling parents. That is why HSLDA brought the first-ever homeschool asylum case in 2008 for the Romeike family from Germany. The Romeikes were granted asylum in January, 2010 by immigration Judge Lawrence Burman, but the Obama administration has appealed the Romeikes’ victory. As of August 2011, the family was still waiting for a determination of the appeal.

Donnelly, who is also an adjunct professor of government at Patrick Henry College, presented “Creature of the State? Homeschooling, the Law, Human Rights, and Parental Autonomy.” He argued that homeschooling is a human right of the first order and that pluralism as practiced in most Western societies demands its acceptance. He disagreed with those, like Emory Law Professor and noted child rights advocate Martha Albertson-Fineman, who argued that homeschooling is a problem in a democracy that should “require compulsory public education because only the government can assure the inculcation of values able to ensure the survival of a democratic society.”

“Nonsense,” says Donnelly. “Those who make this argument conflate ‘society’ with ‘state.’ State and society are not necessarily—in fact are not usually—synonymous. Indeed, a government’s interest in expanding its power may very well be at odds with the people’s interest in freedom.”

For over a century, compulsory public education has been a “standard” in most developed societies. But as homeschooling is on the rise internationally, much of the same drama American homeschoolers experienced for decades is repeating itself. Parents in some of these countries, including former communist nations hostile to any threat to state supremacy, are fighting hard to secure the freedom to teach their own children. HSLDA is helping by offering research and advocacy to public policy makers and encouragement to homeschoolers in other countries. In Germany, however, it looks like it will be a longer road than other countries. State and federal legislators in the republic told Donnelly that most German policy makers are unwilling to credit research gained from America’s 40 years of experience with homeschooling and remain fearful that an American approach to homeschooling will create parallel societies.

Donnelly recounted: “One state legislator was quite short when she asked the host of a meeting I attended, ‘Why is this American here? This is Germany—we’re not like America.’ During the discussion about homeschooling the legislator told a homeschooling mom present that ‘there was no way she could possibly have enough time to properly educate or properly socialize her eight children.’ ”

Religious Views Germany, like much of Europe, views religion differently than the United States. Unlike here, religion is taught in public schools. Germany’s growing Muslim minority, however, resulting from the influx of Turkish immigrants since the 1960s, invokes fear on the part of “ethnic Germans.” One federal legislator who supports homeschooling in concept agreed that this was a concern on the part of many public policy makers. This phenomenon helps explain the German Constitutional Court’s 2003 Konrad holding that the “interest of society in stamping out parallel societies” is justified so that “minority groups can be integrated,” taught “democratic values” and how to live tolerantly with others. Such prescriptions, however, clash with human rights acknowledged by Germany in writing.

Educational freedom is a foundational right explicitly recognized since 1925 by the United States Supreme Court in Pierce v. Society of Sisters. The fundamental right of parents to direct the education and upbringing of their children has also been incorporated in other documents including the 1945 UN Declaration on Human Rights, the 1950 European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Although sovereign nations need to address human rights and freedom issues within the context of their culture and law, organizations like HSLDA that seek to influence public policy both domestically and internationally are needed to speak for the good of all homeschoolers and similarly situated groups. Conferences like IVR 2011 are a place where ideas and information can be shared to ultimately seek to influence public policy.

“Homeschooling is a growing international movement. More parents are finding homeschooling as an alternative to failing public school systems,” said Donnelly. “Governments need to understand that homeschooling produces academically superior, socially well-adjusted and productive citizens.”

Conferences like IVR 2011 get the facts into the hands of academics who can then bring that information back to their countries and use it to inform policy makers so that decisions can be made—hopefully for the good of homeschooling parents. HSLDA has been advancing the cause of homeschooling since 1983 and hopes to help homeschoolers abroad by investing resources to fight these stereotypes in countries like Germany.

American homeschoolers are blessed with great freedom. It is important that we support the less fortunate who are restricted by government policy from teaching their children at home. Because technology allows ideas to travel at the speed of light, it serves the interest of all freedom-loving people to resist totalitarianism in education wherever and whenever necessary.

The papers presented by Donnelly, Montgomery and Schirrmacher will be published by a German publishing company and will be available in the coming months at the HSLDA bookstore.

College points system could be replaced by 2020

Sun, 12 Jun 2011 15:00:47 -0800

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

THE points system for selecting students for college could be replaced by the end of the decade under reform plans being initiated by Education Minister Ruairi Quinn.

Although he acknowledged the fairness of the system operated through the Central Applications Office (CAO), he said it needs to be reviewed as it is designed around the dominant needs of full-time school-leaver entrants.

Almost one-in-three of the 45,000 college places filled through the CAO annually are students who did not sit the Leaving Certificate that year, with a significant rise in numbers applying as mature students or based on further education qualifications.

Mr Quinn said we need a system that caters for a more diverse cohort of students, with new levels and forms of demand for flexible learning and non-traditional routes of entry. He has asked college leaders and others in the higher education sector to give full and frank consideration to the issue in the coming months.

"The pathway into third level is not going to be dominated by Leaving Certificate students coming out of school, there will be mature learners and other students and their entry systems are not as transparent," he said.

The minister said there is a lack of clarity around application processes and requirements for progressing from one part of the further and higher education systems to another.

Although he has no pre-conceived suggestions of how an overhauled entry system might operate, he said it could involve greater use of modern technology.

Any changes would not be introduced for at least six or seven years, by which time students who go through a planned system of reformed assessments for the Junior Certificate reach the end of their second level education. The minister wants those changes to be progressed to the Leaving Certificate, ensuring students depend less on rote learning and are better equipped for the demands of the third-level system for undergraduates equipped to think and learn independently.

"The benefits of any senior cycle curriculum reform will be undermined if we do not address the demands and pressures that the current points system places on both teachers and students," he said.

Meanwhile, a group representing people with disabilities in higher education has asked Mr Quinn to review eligibility for thousands of free courses for unemployed people but which exclude those who are receiving disability allowance. AHEAD said many people with disabilities are out of work due to disability or the recession but want to work and avail of educational opportunities available to other unemployed people.

A Department of Education spokesperson said disability allowance recipients are not eligible for the Springboard courses because their circumstances may change and they may be able to return to work in their chosen profession without the need for re-skilling.

This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Read more: http://www.examiner.ie/ireland/college-points-system-could-be-replaced-by-2020-156329.html#ixzz1P6MFOZNL

German Authorities Threaten Homeschool Family

Mon, 09 May 2011 13:30:38 -0800

In a case decided in February, a German judge denied the Erz family permission to homeschool—even though the family was able to demonstrate they were providing a quality education.

Jonathan and Irene Erz began homeschooling their children this past fall and contacted the school to make officials aware that the children would be taught at home via Clonlara, an international distance learning program used by homeschoolers abroad.

Homeschooling is almost universally illegal in Germany, although several hundred families persist in teaching their children at home. Nearly all of these families operate underground or are involved in court battles. The persecution of homeschoolers has escalated over the past decade, as German authorities continually threaten families with stiff fines, imprisonment, or the loss of their children. Many German families have fled their homeland, resulting in the landmark Romeike asylum case in January 2010. The decision by a U.S. judge to grant political asylum to a German homeschool family, currently on appeal, reflects the repressive nature of Germany’s educational policies.

The Erz family was notified by the regional government that the international school was “not recognized by the region as a private school,” and consequently did not fulfill the compulsory education requirement. The letter reminded the Erz family that the penalty for disregarding the mandatory school attendance law is a fine up to the amount of 50,000 euros (nearly $70,000 in U.S. currency). And, the authorities noted, if the penalty was not paid, German law allows for arrest or the removal of parental custody.

“Such drastic measures,” Mr. Erz protests, “are usually not considered in democratic nations until a court decision is reached.”

The family has since appeared in court multiple times to defend their right to homeschool. In this particular case, the issue is not homeschooling during the elementary grades, but during high school. The infamous Konrad v. Germany case, decided by the German High Court in 2003 and then reviewed by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in 2006, specifically left open the issue of whether children could be homeschooled in secondary grades. Since the compulsory education laws in the Erz’s region do not specify mandatory attendance after elementary school, this provides a potential opening for homeschooling.

At the trial, the local school board strongly encouraged the court to reject the Erz’s request to homeschool. School board officials informed the court that to date all similar cases concerning homeschooling have been unequivocally rejected. Although the judge expressed he was 100% sure that the education and upbringing being provided to the Erz’s children is of good quality and that the children are integrated in society, the judge ultimately rejected their case. Following the uniform ruling in German courts to date, the judge denied the Erz family permission to homeschool.

Mr. Erz called the decision “political.”

“The judges presiding over the case actually scolded the defendant more than once, for example, for questioning the quality of education being provided,” explains Mr. Erz. “It appears the judge felt he had no other choice in the end.”

Over 2 Million children Home Educated in America

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 12:44:24 -0800

In a new study just released the National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI) estimates there were over 2 million children being homeschooled in the United States in 2010. “The growth of the modern homeschool movement has been remarkable,” said Michael Smith, president of HSLDA. “Just 30 years ago there were only an estimated 20,000 homeschooled children,” he added. According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2008) there were an estimated 54 million K–12 children in the U.S. in spring 2010, which means homeschoolers account for nearly 4% of the school-aged population, or 1 in 25 children.

Today, homeschoolers can be found in all walks of life and with a wide variety of curriculum options, and a proven record of academic as well as social success, homeschooling is rapidly becoming a mainstream education alternative.

The NHERI study used data from both government and private sources in order to arrive at the 2 million figure.

Read the Report in full here

Increase in number of Home Educated Children

Wed, 26 May 2010 13:46:13 -0800

Home Schooling is now the fastest growing form of education in Ireland!
This should not surprise us. Look at what's happening around us. The state curriculum is being dumbed down. The whole emphasis is now totally humanistic & evolutionary. Teachers authority in the classroom has been undermined.
Now students are being bribed by way of bonus points to do higher level Maths & Science subjects!

We still haven't considered the socialisation problems that so many state school children have. Drug abuse, bullying, mocking of their faith. The list goes on and on.
Praise the Lord that Home Education provides an environment to protect our children from the pernicious influences of the state education system.

Numbers being registered with NEWB are increasing at a rate of about 50% per annum.
According to NEWB there are now almost 700 children registered.
However, I suspect that the real figure is at least twice that. There is still alot of resistance to registering for various reasons.

The following report is from the Irish Examiner.

THE number of children registered for home-schooling has more than trebled to almost 700 in just five years.

The National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) began assessing families whose children are taught at home in 2004, when it received applications from 92 families involving 138 children.

By the end of 2008, there were 439 children from 295 families registered as being home-educated, but a further 200 were added by the end of last year.

In the first three months of 2010, another 18 families and 22 children have been included on the register, bringing the total number of students to 661.

The board is legally obliged to ensure all children aged from six to 16 receive a minimum education, which means it must assess families who are providing home education.

Although it does not yet review the tuition being provided, plans are being made to start visiting previously assessed families in the next year.

Emer Farrell, a senior education welfare officer (EWO) with the board who oversees home education, said families choose to teach their children at home for a wide range of reasons.

"For some there are religious reasons, as the choice isn’t always available for some parents if they don’t want to send their child to a Christian school. Or it might be a lifestyle issue, for people maybe moving countries for work or doing a lot of travelling, where it doesn’t make sense to put children in school in five different places," she said.

"Others might have had a negative experience in schools around issues of bullying or they might just feel it’s the best option. Some would have health reasons, if a child has special needs or is affected by particular health issues, maybe epilepsy or different allergies, the parents might feel it’s the best thing to do."

While there is no obligation to follow the curriculum taught in the country’s 4,000 primary and second level schools, assessors must be satisfied that literacy, language and numeracy skills are being learned.

The NEWB does not require the same kind of daily teaching structure or for parents to follow the school calendar, but many families choose to prepare children for the Junior Certificate or Leaving Certificate or similar state exams for other countries.

The National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) began assessing families whose children are taught at home in 2004, when it received applications from 92 families involving 138 children.

By the end of 2008, there were 439 children from 295 families registered as being home-educated, but a further 200 were added by the end of last year.

In the first three months of 2010, another 18 families and 22 children have been included on the register, bringing the total number of students to 661.

The board is legally obliged to ensure all children aged from six to 16 receive a minimum education, which means it must assess families who are providing home education.

Although it does not yet review the tuition being provided, plans are being made to start visiting previously assessed families in the next year.

Emer Farrell, a senior education welfare officer (EWO) with the board who oversees home education, said families choose to teach their children at home for a wide range of reasons.

"For some there are religious reasons, as the choice isn’t always available for some parents if they don’t want to send their child to a Christian school. Or it might be a lifestyle issue, for people maybe moving countries for work or doing a lot of travelling, where it doesn’t make sense to put children in school in five different places," she said.

"Others might have had a negative experience in schools around issues of bullying or they might just feel it’s the best option. Some would have health reasons, if a child has special needs or is affected by particular health issues, maybe epilepsy or different allergies, the parents might feel it’s the best thing to do."

While there is no obligation to follow the curriculum taught in the country’s 4,000 primary and second level schools, assessors must be satisfied that literacy, language and numeracy skills are being learned.

The NEWB does not require the same kind of daily teaching structure or for parents to follow the school calendar, but many families choose to prepare children for the Junior Certificate or Leaving Certificate or similar state exams for other countries.

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Monday, May 24, 2010

Romanian Homeschoolers Seek Good Law

Thu, 06 May 2010 11:00:56 -0800

Until 2000 very few people in Romania had ever heard of homeschooling, much less practiced it. This began to change when a small group of evangelical Christians in the country felt the need to give their children a Christian education and, after two years of study and prayer, they organized the Romania Home School Association (ROHSA). When issues arose concerning the legality of the practice, ROHSA contacted the late Chris Klicka-then HSLDA's director of international relations-who provided great encouragement and direction to Romanian homeschoolers. Since then, homeschooling has gradually moved forward in Romania among a few dedicated families.

Romania's constitution guarantees religious freedom, including the right of parents to give their children an education in line with their religious beliefs. However, the right of parents to homeschool for either religious or philosophical convictions has never found its way into legislation formally recognizing the practice. Families who homeschool their children must be very careful to teach all the subjects in the Romanian curriculum, test their children and keep good records of what they do. This is challenging, because it is difficult for students who are not enrolled in the Romanian school system to get Romanian textbooks. Another problem is that without a recognized high school diploma, it is impossible to enter any Romanian university. Even worse, entry-level jobs are very hard to find without a recognized high school diploma.

At times, families are visited by local school authorities. These authorities have been cooperative and have seemed mainly concerned that the children were not being educationally neglected. Nevertheless, ROHSA recognizes that some form legislation is probably coming soon and is working hard among elected authorities to create a well-written bill.

Robert Rapp works with national missionaries in Central and Eastern Europe to start churches and also helps families learn about homeschooling. He notes that the first-ever Romanian Homeschool Conference was a great success this year. "After seven years, homeschooling in Romania took a big step forward this year," Rapp declared. "The first nationwide Romania homeschool conference took place in Arad on March 13-14. Chris Klicka's book, Home Schooling-the Right Choice, was available in the Romanian language because of a grant from The Home School Foundation. When the conference ended, attendees agreed to develop regional homeschooling support groups with each church trying to develop its own association to work closely with ROHSA."

Rapp also asks for prayer for the country.

"The Romanian Parliament is currently considering legislation of some kind, and ROHSA is asking for prayer that it will be well-written and allow homeschooling to operate legally, without unnecessary limitations or heavy bureaucratic measures. Please pray for ROHSA President Gabriel Curcubet as he travels to influence key people. And ask for favor in the eyes of the ministry of education and the parliament."

HSLDA Attorney and Director of International Relations Mike Donnelly notes that legalizing homeschooling in Romania is an important step.

"To see homeschooling explicitly legalized and free in a former communist country," said Donnelly, "would send a powerful message to the rest of the world-especially countries like Sweden and Germany that are seeking to repress homeschooling. HSLDA is pleased to support homeschoolers in Romania and all over the world as they seek freedom to exercise their fundamental right as parents to determine what is best for their children without government interference. I know Chris Klicka would be so delighted to see this progress."

Sweden: Homeschool Update

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 12:32:27 -0800

HSLDA emailed the following letter to members of the Swedish Parliament.

By way of introduction, the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) is an international organization located in the United States. Our mission is to advance and protect the right of parents to teach their children at home. Presently, we have more than 85,000 member families in all 50 of the United States, all its territories and in 36 countries.

It has come to our attention that many Swedish families would like to homeschool their children. While many have been allowed to do so, there is increasing repression of these families through court proceedings. We are also informed that the Swedish Parliament is considering changes to the current school law that would allow home education only in "exceptional circumstances" and make it possible for homeschooling families to face criminal sanctions.

We wish to point out that Sweden's behavior in repressing home education and in considering laws that would severely restrict, if not entirely eliminate home education, is similar to behavior for which Germany has been criticized. In fact, the United States of America has granted political asylum to a German family who fled persecution because of their desire to homeschool their children. This persecution took the form of fines and other threats based solely on the fact that they homeschooled their children. If Sweden adopts this strict law, as recommended in Chapter 24, Paragraph 23 of the proposed new Swedish school law, it appears likely that the same circumstances that currently exist in Germany would appear in Sweden, forcing many Swedish citizens who wish to homeschool to flee their home country. It is our understanding that some Swedish families have already chosen to flee because of harassment from local school authorities who arbitrarily deny them their right to teach their own children.

While we understand that nations have their own culture and laws, Sweden is a country based on Western notions of justice and liberty. In addition, Sweden often points to its positive record on human rights. Yet as United States Federal Immigration Judge Lawrence Burman wrote in his opinion granting the German Romeike family political asylum, "No country has a right to deny these basic human rights." He refers to the right of parents to decide the best form of education for their children, which includes the right, even if regulated, to educate their own children themselves.

As you know, the Treaty of Amsterdam calls for respect for those fundamental rights guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights. These same rights are solemnly proclaimed in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, most notably Article 6 (Right to liberty and security of person), Article 7 (Respect for private and family life), Article 10 (Freedom of thought, conscience and religion), Article 14 (Right to education), Article 20 (Equality before the law), Article 21 (Non-discrimination), Article 22 (Cultural, religious and linguistic diversity), Article 24 (Rights of the child), and Article 47 (Right to an effective remedy and a fair trial). These formative documents each indicate that homeschooling should be possible for those who choose it. Furthermore, the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights itself states in Article 26 that parents retain the right to choose the kind of education their children receive.

In his report on the German education system in 2006 United Nation's UN Special Rapporteur Vernor Munoz writes,

[A]ccording to reports received, it is possible that, in some Länder, education is understood exclusively to mean school attendance. Even though the Special Rapporteur is a strong advocate of public, free and compulsory education, it should be noted that education may not be reduced to mere school attendance and that educational processes should be strengthened to ensure that they always and primarily serve the best interests of the child. Distance learning methods and home schooling represent valid options which could be developed in certain circumstances, bearing in mind that parents have the right to choose the appropriate type of education for their children, as stipulated in article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The promotion and development of a system of public, government-funded education should not entail the suppression of forms of education that do not require attendance at a school. In this context, the Special Rapporteur received complaints about threats to withdraw the parental rights of parents who chose home-schooling methods for their children. (Emphasis added.)

The UN report notes in recommendations Section 93(g) "[A]hat the necessary measures should be adopted to ensure that the home schooling system is properly supervised by the State, thereby upholding the right of parents to employ this form of education when necessary and appropriate, bearing in mind the best interests of the child."

Scientific research and practical experience around the world has conclusively proven that homeschooling is at least as effective as public schools both academically and in producing well-socialized and productive members of society. In many cases, homeschooling has proved more effective. There is no other country in the world that has as much experience with this form of education as the United States. With over 2 million homeschooled students (nearly 3% of the school age population), the United States' experience has been overwhelmingly positive and demonstrates that measures to restrict home education, such as those before the parliament today are repressive and are not necessary to safeguard the State's interest in education or in protecting children.

For more research, please read a report by the Fraser Institute of Canada.

For additional research, please also visit HSLDA's online research.

We urge you to vote against this severe law to modify Chapter 24 Paragraph 23 in the proposed new Swedish school law. This change would essentially ban homeschooling in Sweden. In a pluralistic and
democratic society such as Sweden, freedom in education must be respected. It is the recognized human right of parents to determine the best form of education for their children. If I may be of further service to you or provide additional information please do not hesitate to contact me.

With kind regards,
Michael P. Donnelly, Esq.
Director of International Relations

No Title

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 13:15:30 -0800

John Wesley on Education

Voddie Baucham does a eye-opening series called the Continuing Collapse of Education on his Truth In Love blog. Here is a sample:

Recently, I read a sermon by John Wesley entitled, “On Family Religion,” wherein he said some things that resonated with my soul. I am delighted to share them with you here:

13. Let it be remembered, that I do not speak to the wild, giddy, thoughtless world, but to those that fear God. I ask, then, for what end do you send you children to school? “Why, that they may be fit to live in the world.” In which world do you mean, — this or the next? Perhaps you thought of this world only; and had forgot that there is a world to come; yea, and one that will last for ever! Pray take this into your account, and send them to such masters as will keep it always before their eyes. Otherwise, to send them to school (permit me to speak plainly) is little better than sending them to the devil. At all events, then, send your boys, if you have any concern for their souls, not to any of the large public schools, (for they are nurseries of all manner of wickedness,) but private school, kept by some pious man, who endeavours to instruct a small number of children in religion and learning together.

14. “But what shall I do with my girls?” By no means send them to a large boarding-school. In these seminaries too the children teach one another pride, vanity, affectation, intrigue, artifice, and, in short, everything which a Christian woman ought not to learn. Suppose a girl were well inclined, yet what would she do in a crowd of children, not one of whom has any thought of saving her soul in such company? especially as their whole conversation points another way, and turns upon things which one would wish she would never think of. I never yet knew a pious, sensible woman that had been bred at a large boarding-school, who did not aver, one might as well send a young maid to be bred in Drury-Lane.

15. “But where, then, shall I send my girls?” If you cannot breed them up yourself, (as my mother did, who bred up seven daughters to years of maturity,) send them to some mistress that truly fears God; one whose life is a pattern to her scholars, and who has only so many that she can watch over each as one that must give account to God. Forty years ago I did not know such a mistress in England; but you may now find several; you may find such a mistress, and such a school, at Highgate, at Deptford, near Bristol, in Chester, or near Leeds.

16. We may suppose your sons have now been long enough at school, and you are thinking of some business for them. Before you determine anything on this head, see that your eye be single. Is it so? Is it you view to please God herein? It is well if you take him into your account! But surely, if you love or fear God yourself, this will be your first consideration, — “In what business will your son be most likely to love and serve God? In what employment will he have the greatest advantage for laying up treasure in heaven?” I have been shocked above measure in observing how little this is attended to, even by pious parents! Even these consider only how he may get most money; not how he may get most holiness! Even these, upon this glorious motive, send him to a heathen master, and into family where there is not the very form, much less the power of religion! Upon this motive they fix him in a business which will necessarily expose him to such temptations as will leave him not a probability, if a possibility, of serving God. O savage parents! unnatural, diabolical cruelty. — if you believe there is another world.

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Sat, 24 Apr 2010 11:55:51 -0800