Do you know how many children are out of schools in Pakistan? In 2021 the number was 26.2 million, which reached 26 million in 2024, prompting the Prime Minister to declare a state of emergency.
These are children who are not in schools due to lack of resources, absence of schools in their area and in the tribal areas due to imposition of restrictions on the education of females by tribal elders.
In addition to this, there are those children who are not attending schools by choice and their parents have opted what is popularly known as Home Schooling. Yes a very exciting concept that is a worldwide phenomenon and now also gaining popularity in Pakistan.
Many parents are opting for it due to what they describe as poor learning outcomes in the present system.
Pakistan is not the only country where homeschooling is taking roots. The US leads the world in homeschooling. 6.73% of all school-age children have opted for homeschooling in the US. There has been a steady increase in the number of homeschooling students as there were about 2.3 million homeschooled students in 2016, 2.5 million in 2019, and 2.65 million in 2020, demonstrating that homeschooling is the fastest-growing form of education in the US.
So what is homeschooling? In simple language it means “To teach school subjects to one’s children at home”. According to some parents, who are homeschooling their kids, education has become too commercialized but there are other reasons as well.
Religious sentiments is another strong motivation. Religious people have taken to homeschooling because of material taught in schools which in their opinion is secular and in many places also atheist in nature. Also religious people focus on what is popularly known as tarbiyat or training but modern education, according to them, is not interested in that.
It’s only interested in passing exams and getting good grades. A strong motivation for immigrant families is the atmosphere. These people want a certain kind of atmosphere for their kids.
Immigrant communities often homeschool because of this in the West.
You can also say homeschooling is preferred because the immigrant families want their children to inherit their culture not the culture of the host country. They are just looking for quality education to encourage academic achievement and no more.
Parents often choose homeschooling their children to ensure that they can control the quality of the content and learning. Some curriculums support this goal by focusing on teaching the child understanding, instead of the ability to repeat certain facts.
Children with special learning needs (for example, children who are on the Autism spectrum) can flourish in the homeschooling environment because they can learn without stigmatization and discover their unique talents.
Other reasons for homeschooling may be children that display special talents in music, sports or academics. They may have unique learning needs and require a more flexible schedule to accommodate these needs.
For example, a child who is gifted in cricket may need more time during their day to allow for their training schedule, whilst an academically gifted child may want to progress to the next course level as soon as they are done with the current one.
Homeschooling can offer all these benefits, which a conventional system cannot.
How does this work? Homeschooling is unique to each family. They need to do research, find what their goals for educating their children are and then find a philosophy that works for them.
There are homeschool philosophies and related curriculum available online.
So what are the costs involved in homeschooling? The cost of homeschooling will depend on the curriculum, platform, student level and the subjects you select. When parents undertake homeschooling they opt to become their child’s teacher on all subject matters.
Some parents opt to use an online homeschooling platform that provides access to subject specialists and interactive learning content to alleviate some of the pressure involved with teaching.
However, it is important to remember that as a parent you will still need to be involved with your child’s education; especially during the lower grades where they will need guidance, encouragement and support. This will mean a time and resource investment as a parent.
The million dollar question: is it legal to homeschool in Pakistan? Homeschooling isn’t regulated under Pakistan law or by the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training.
This means that parents in Pakistan can choose to homeschool their children if it is a more viable option compared to traditional schooling.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
The writer is a well-known columnist
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