Students will be able to avoid school: changes have been waiting since September

Discussions about choosing families to teach their children at home have taken place for many years, for almost twenty years, but only this year a compromise was reached. There is a legal procedure that allows parents to train their children at home if they wish.

Darius Trečiakauskas, chairman of the Lithuanian Parent Forum, told Delfi that the opportunity to raise a child in a family is simply necessary. Freedom cannot be imagined without choice: the greater the variety of options, the better the evaluation of the freedom index.

There are gaps in the law

Parenting in the family has led to many initiatives over time, but the final deliberations have finally taken place. The project, which establishes the procedure and conditions for the education of children in the family, was prepared by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports (ŠMSM) and approved by the Government. “There are downsides to the law, but they can be corrected and adjusted, and the step itself is positive, good and welcome,” said D. Trečiakauskas.

However, he noted that the law is not without several restrictions and limitations, even the service for the protection of children’s rights is intertwined: “A contract is signed with the school, so the latter must evaluate it. Especially since it is not about the rights of the child or its possible violation, but about the learning environment, “said D. Trečiakauskas, adding that from this point of view, conditions in schools can also be evaluated in an ambiguous way. a couple of years ago, there were still schools with open-air baths.

Therefore, in the interlocutor’s opinion, the requirements for families are excessive, and the more government intervention is, the more often it is unreasonable and unjustified, violating human rights and freedoms.

Due to the quarantine in the country, classes are taught remotely in all educational institutions. According to D. Trečiakauskas, unwittingly turning to family education, the school helped supervise this process.

According to D. Trečiakauskas, the results will depend on the child’s individual abilities, inclination, desire, family support and social status. Also from the teachers who led the distance learning lessons: how inventive, creative and benevolent towards children. “There are many ingredients, all kinds of experiences: some are angry, others are happy,” he said.

One thing is clear: parents have seen that a teacher’s job is not so easy and simple where one can enjoy a long vacation.

Not many enthusiasts

Perhaps a practicality will remove enthusiasm for teaching children at home? “There are not many enthusiasts, we have counted between 5 and 7 thousand. Parents interested in it, who expressed a wish. These are not large numbers for the whole of Lithuania. However, the quarantine period is unlikely to cast doubt on the people who have already made a decision. I think there will be even more parents who will say: not bad, we save time, there is no need to go anywhere, there are more opportunities, free time, the child has more responsibility, “said D. Trečiakauskas, a plus in home schooling.

According to the interlocutor, without responsibility, duty, enthusiasm, personality does not develop, these are important and fundamental things. “Learning takes place through personal experience: the amount of knowledge has nothing to do with practice. Skills are developed through activities. Theoretical learning is for philosophers: in the Middle Ages, monks They considered how much demon could fit on the tip of a needle, ”he said.

According to the interlocutor, the educational system should not stifle the creativity of children: “All children in Kodėlčiukai kindergarten run to first grade, but only after going to school do they return with their noses hanging out, they no longer want to attend school. lessons”. That says a lot about the education system, it shouldn’t be like that. “

Commenting on the decision to raise children in families, Egidijus Meilus, senior advisor to the Office of the Ombudsman for Children, said the legislator’s idea is a good one: before concluding a family education contract, the school should evaluate the educational conditions, the child’s level of maturity and knowledge. “This method of family education has not been legalized in our country until now, but it is legalized at the request of parents and some organizations. Relevant, clearly defined legislation has been adopted,” he explained.

In many states, there is an opportunity to raise children in the family, one way or another.

However, homeschooling isn’t always worth it. According to E. Meilaus, there are many disadvantages and threats: a child can become invisible, the right to education will not be guaranteed, all educational objectives will not be achieved, it will be closed between the four borders.

Certain fuses are required

The quality of learning may be affected by the fact that the form of education will be based solely on the subjective opinion of the parents, and the necessary attention to the child’s socialization may be lacking. “If there is evidence that the child’s right to education may be violated or there are cases of violence, it is natural that the question arises whether the child can exercise the right to education in a family in his best interest. Therefore, these data must be provided by institutions for the protection of the rights of the child, according to which schools must also assess whether parents can create conditions for parenting in the family, “said E. Meilus about the supervision mechanism necessary.

Control is promised through periodic knowledge tests: the child and the parents will communicate with the teachers, agreements will be made. If knowledge is found to be insufficient, the child will have to return to school in the normal way. “There are certain guarantees in the description: the child not only has the right but also the duty to learn,” he said.

The senior advisor to the Office of the Ombudsman for Children was based on real examples: the child did not attend school for half a year and home schooling did not take place. There is another side, sometimes there are cases of abuse in the schools themselves: parents of a child with special educational needs are offered homeschooling. “There are negative things, so there is a definite order,” he explained.

But home schooling, according to E. Meilaus, is beneficial, it has advantages. One of them is that creativity is easier to spread. “There are all kinds of situations: let’s say that a child’s parents are teachers, they can certainly provide education. The child may also have individual characteristics, perhaps it is safer for him to grow up in a family, “he emphasized.

Life is changing rapidly, educational methods and forms are diversifying. “During the quarantine, different aspects of distance education were revealed, it was possible to self-evaluate all the negative and positive things. Of course, new experiences can encourage families to raise a child in a new way, on their own. This method has been discussed for many years, it was necessary, it will also be applied successfully in practice ”, E. Meilus is convinced.

The family knows what it wants, but is freedom always associated with responsibility?

Director of the Lithuanian College of Education for Democracy dr. Eglė Celiešienė did not hesitate: the newly enacted provision creates conditions for each family to choose the educational process that best meets the child’s needs, which is especially important.

After all, only the family itself and the child growing up in it know better how they want and can learn. “The concept of family education creates conditions for the child, his parents or guardians, in cooperation with the school, to choose the learning method and methodologies that best suit the child’s interests. For example, learning letters, searching the alphabet in nature, discovering mathematics, counting visible objects, learning about physics, chemistry in museums and other settings, “said E. Celiešienė limitless possibilities.

However, according to her, the possible freedom of learning is closely related to the great responsibility of parents or guardians in the implementation of preschool, primary, basic and secondary education programs: “Quarantine, which forced digitalized learning, allowed each child “try” distance learning, parents to better understand the teacher’s work. “

Although the international educational community emphasizes that distance learning today cannot be compared to learning at home, each participant has been able to feel, at least in part, how everything works in practice. “Therefore, it is now much easier for many people to imagine how to organize and guarantee an effective learning process on their own, without the daily participation of the teacher,” said the interlocutor.

And although family education, according to her, is not the same as distance learning, in both cases, the school and the parents, the cooperation of the caregivers becomes essential for the successful organization and implementation of the learning process.

SMSM: Parents must record a child’s achievement

ŠMSM advises that families wishing to educate children at home must meet certain conditions. It will be possible to educate children at home if no violations of children’s rights have been identified in the family in the last two years, including parental drugs, use of psychotropic substances, use of alcohol, violence, and no measures have been provided minimum or medium care for the child.

When submitting a request to a school to raise a child at home, parents must provide information that the territorial division authorized by the State Service for the Protection and Adoption of Children’s Rights has not identified any violation of rights of the child.

The school, after concluding a teaching contract, will provide students with textbooks, consult with children, create conditions for participation in school-led non-formal educational programs and events for children, and a preventive program that develops social and emotional skills.

Twice a school year, parents’ school teachers will assess the student’s achievement and learning progress and whether the student’s socialization needs are met.

Parents should record the child’s achievement in the school electronic journal at least once every two weeks: what the child was learning, in what settings, what he learned.

The list of schools that will help parents organize homeschooling will be approved by the municipality and posted on the municipality’s website.

According to ŠMSM data, home schooling may be relevant for 200 Lithuanian students today. Around 100 of them would be educated according to the preschool education program. This would require an additional 76.6 thousand. and in 2021 – 230 thousand. euros

Training funds would be allocated to teacher salaries (for contact hours, hours for planning educational activities, preparing for consultations, evaluating student learning achievement), for other educational needs, such as textbooks.