UNESCO reports nearly half of all school-age children worldwide have lost at least two-thirds of their school year because of the COVID-19 pandemic and millions of children are being home-schooled by their parents. But rather than highlight the possibilities that home schooling offers, its 2020 Global Education Report gives short shrift to the millions of families worldwide who are finding a home in this practical and rewarding educational option.
UNESCO’s suspicion of parent-directed education is obvious in the title of the short description, “Homeschooling expands but also tests the limits of inclusion.” The report says, “Educating children at home is illegal in many countries, especially in Europe,” and quotes the European Court of Human Rights, which sided with Germany in its ban of homeschooling because of its unsupported concern that homeschooling might contribute to the rise of “parallel societies.” The report grudgingly acknowledges that “some countries are increasingly making the option available under relatively simple conditions.”
This is simply not a good account of the facts.
Italy, Austria, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Switzerland, and Belgium have growing home schooling populations. Even in countries such as Bulgaria, Romania, Spain, and the Netherlands, where home schooling is not explicitly recognized as an exception to school attendance laws, families are still able to educate their children at home without undue intrusion by the state. Chile, Panama, Brazil, and Columbia are among countries looking to recognize the legal status of home schooling.
A few European countries, such as Germany and Sweden, treat home schooling harshly, and a misguided proposal by French President Emmanuel Macron would impose new burdens for home-schoolers. In recent years, home schooling has been explicitly recognized by a growing number of countries such as Lithuania and Ukraine.
But besides the misinformation about the legal status of home schooling in Europe, what is this report really about?
Unfortunately, the United Nations seems to prefer state control of education over supporting parental choice or focusing on children’s individual needs. In 2005, the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child said that “the role of civil society should be complementary to, not a substitute for, the role of the state.” This is not in keeping with aspirations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights article 26.3, which states that “parents have a prior right to decide the kind of education” their children shall receive, not to mention article 16.3 that affirms the family as the “fundamental group unit of society.”
If the U.N. was really concerned about educating children, especially when so many are out of school and at home with their parents, wouldn’t it make sense to put more effort into making this arrangement benefit society? Instead, the U.N. lends undue prominence to an extreme view of home schooling as contrary to the interests of democracy and pluralism. Does it not see the irony? It showcases a country that outlaws and persecutes a form of education most countries allow and claims that is pluralism and democracy? No wonder Americans are so suspicious of the U.N.
Scientific research shows that home schooling is not exclusionary, does not create “parallel societies,” and is good for children.
Vanderbilt University’s Joseph Murphy surveyed all the research showing that home schooling produces individuals who are at least as well educated and socialized as their public or private schooled counterparts. Education expert Lindsey Burke’s literature review shows that the majority of peer-reviewed studies point to superior academic outcomes for home schooling. President of the National Home Education Research Institute Brian Ray’s surveys of home-schooled graduates indicate that they are integrated into society, and University of Arkansas’s Albert Cheng’s study suggests that home-school graduates are more politically tolerant than their peers.
I’m glad that UNESCO mentions home schooling in its report, even citing my own article on the growth of home schooling. But it is troubling that an organization dedicated to human rights, and that purports to be an advocate for children’s rights and education, would write so negatively about an educational choice that so many children have benefited from and which offers solutions for education when innovation and new ways of thinking are required. If the U.N. is really interested in solutions to the educational chaos and problems that schools have, home schooling is one of them.
Michael P. Donnelly is senior counsel at Home School Legal Defense Association.
