More parents choose to home-school their kids
Irked with schools and the ways of teaching, parents are now increasingly shifting to home-schooling for educating their children. Parents with the help of various non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and forums have begun to adopt this concept of teaching school lessons at home.
Educationists feel homeschooling is the future of education considering the changing trends but it might hamper social development of a child.
Parents revealed that education in schools has deteriorated in terms of level of teaching, methods of learning, creative freedom, personal attention to every child and safety measures.
Considering the recent untoward incidents in schools, parents feel spending extra hours and educating their children at home would ensure a safer environment.
In addition, exorbitant fees is another factor discouraging parents from sending their children to conventional schools.
Along with various NGOs, parents are exploring new methods of imparting education. Shruti Sawant, a parent said, “The levels of teaching in various schools often make us question if our kids are learning anything constructive in schools. And then the lack of safety measures instils a fear among us. We are trying to explore new ways where we can take time out of our daily chores and teach our own kids.”
With home-schooling, parents aim to teach students basic curriculum, lessons taught in school and standard-wise syllabus according to textbooks and worksheets. And once students reach the age of 16 the students can appear for the board examination privately. Also, some forums are awarding certificates based on skill development.
The Forum for Fairness in Education (FFE) is conducting workshops and seminars for parents to help them with the different methods of teaching. Jayant Jain, President of FFE, said, “We are informing parents about the curriculum, tests and activities which they can conduct at home. Also, we are creating a mobile application where parents can access test papers and worksheets.”
Experts have considered home-schooling as the future of school education but with its own drawbacks.
Kavita Aggarwal, chairperson of the Members of International Schools Association (MISA), said, “This method may affect the social development of a child as the absence of a classroom or school environment can have various effects.”