Home-schooling illegal as per RTE Act: Minister
Home-schooling is illegal as per the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, according to the state education ministry. Parents have been shifting to adopt this concept of home-schooling but the ministry has revealed that parents ought to be educated and should not encourage this concept in order to prevent hampering overall social, psychological and cognitive development of their children.
The RTE Act, which came into effect on April 1, 2010, makes it mandatory for every child from the age of six to 14 years to be enrolled in a formal school to utilise the right to free and compulsory education. But recently, large number of parents are keen towards teaching their kids at home due to lack of trust in the whole teaching and security system of schools.
The education ministry criticised the concept of home-schooling and has requested parents not to encourage it. Vinod Tawde, state minister for school education, said, “Homeschooling is illegal as per the RTE Act. Every child needs to be a student of a school and parents should understand this clearly. A child needs a school environment for overall growth and development.”
Education experts challenged this concept of home-schooling as there is no space for social and psychological growth of a child. Kavita Aggarwal, Chairperson of the Members of International Schools Association (MISA), said, “At home, a child will be exposed to parents, relatives, teachers and friends at the most but in a classroom environment a child learns to interact, communicate and express with a large number of people. These aspects are best learnt at the tender age and it will be difficult for a child to suddenly interact with the society and world at large without this kind of exposure.”
Parents are in a fix as they feel this move is challenging their freedom. Rajan Kumar, a parent said, “As parents we should have the right to decide what is best for our children. Why should we be forced to send our kids to school who do not impart quality education, charge exorbitant fees and do not even guarantee any kind of safety. The ministry needs to check the education system, efficiency of teachers and enhance a healthy school environment.”
The concept of homeschooling involves parents teaching lessons to their kids at home. The children are not sent to any school but receive elementary education at home. A parent said, “Teachers play an extremely important role in a child’s life. Education at an early age is the foundation of a child’s future and teachers should never forget this paramount responsibility.”