2,860 homeschooled children to attend school after all

Recently, the Supreme Court ruled that parents can now only obtain an exemption from compulsory education for their children on the grounds of religious objections or philosophical convictions in exceptional cases. Until then, they could apply for an exemption from compulsory education if they had 'serious objections' to the education available in their area. The ruling raised the question of whether it applied only to young children who were just becoming subject to compulsory education, or also to children who already had an exemption. To resolve this uncertainty, Ingrado has now drawn up this guideline.

According to the guideline, municipalities must assess new exemption applications more carefully. If public primary education is available within 6 kilometres of the home, and public secondary education is available within 20 kilometres of the home, the application will be rejected. Municipalities must also identify children with an existing exemption and, where possible, help them return to school. For this group, a careful transition is needed, with municipalities working with parents and other parties to draw up a plan for a return to appropriate education.

Developing as they do at school

"Various issues play a role in the discussion about homeschooling," says Eva de Jong of the Netherlands Youth Institute in an interview with NU.nl. "Are the parents able to provide education at home, with the skills that a teacher has? And can a child develop at home as they would at school, in contact with other children, and learn to deal with other points of view? And is a child sufficiently prepared to enter society independently?"

"We do not know that at present, because this is not monitored," says De Jong. Foreign studies that are positive about homeschooling come from countries where there is supervision. "From a child's development perspective, the principle is that a child is part of society. It is important to learn how to live together with others. We need one another."

Having to face it alone as a child

"Some parents may provide homeschooling very well, but other parents may not. Parents decide, based on their convictions, that homeschooling is better for their child. But whether that is actually the case, no one knows except the parents themselves. So if things are going well, there is no problem. But if things are not going well, no one sees it and a child is left to face it alone."

Source: NJi.