When we decided to leave quite a comfortable UK life and move back to India, many people couldn’t believe we gave up western life to come back to the village where, to be honest, we had nothing to start with but our dreams and hopes. We left behind easily available health service, a quite modern infrastructure, a nice climate, and free education. The last one is the most controversial point for some people it seems, as for our 5 member family – the costs of sending kids to school in India will be enormous. We had mock 2-year schooling in the UK’s nursery and reception and all we can say – we are more likely to try alternative schooling. Starting with homeschooling based on farm life, close to forest school values, back to nature and slow life concepts.
Only during the early years of education, we noticed a child’s school duties are marginalizing the family life, the values we follow as a bi-cultural family are not much supported. Monday to Friday tiredness of getting up early, rushing to eat breakfast and get ready for school. Rushing to pick up kids 2 times a day and watching an exhausted kid by late afternoon that needs to have a nap, eat dinner and go back to sleep. Though we don’t have much experience we’re going to give a try – the idea of homeschooling in India itself is growing and more and more families decide to follow education in different ways in comparison to the traditional school environment.
| In September 2010, Minister of Education Kapil Sibal released a statement through The Times of India stating that the “RTE Act wants every child to be in school, but if somebody decides not to send his/her children to school, we [the government] are not going to interfere. The compulsion is on the state, not on the parents. Parents are free not to send their children to school, but teach them at home. We cannot be micromanaging.” This statement offers the official clarification that homeschoolers in India have been waiting for. |
5 reasons why I decided to give a try to homeschool my kids in India
Ruler approach
Would you believe that in India we can still find corporal punishment as a part of child discipline in school? It’s been there for ages, but does it have to stay like this still in the XXI century? And why do I have to agree to give my children any punishment in school that should serve them as a lesson, teaching to always do their homework? I do not give my permission to this. Not at all.
Overload everywhere
Due to Indian overpopulation classes and teachers have to cope with 40+ children in a class. How one teacher can pass the knowledge in an efficient way to all of the children – those whose understanding comes fast and those who underperform and need a little bit more attention during the learning process. Almost one to one interaction during homeschooling (parent-child) makes learning faster and fun.
| The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) primary education department will now permit schools to admit only 40 students per class |
Rising crimes in schools
To me, homeschooling means less negative influences. As a parent, I do my best to maximize a peaceful and safe environment. Unfortunately, this world isn’t a fairytale, children in schools face problems: bullying, peer pressure, rat race for better marks. Where is the happy childhood for our kids here?
The ever-rising fee structures of schools
In our times where almost everything can be found on the Internet for free, paying more and more fees and donations for schools seems to be a little bit outdated, isn’t it? I believe commitment, persistence, and engagement will pay off during homeschooling.
Bicultural (native language) education
In a country like India where there are 22 languages (according to the 8th Schedule of Indian Constitution) and hundreds of dialects, Polish – my native language would be so much neglected. Homeschooling gives me a chance to polish and continue teaching it.
To be honest, I never considered homeschooling my children. This method of education is not the best method for most parents as it requires a lot of parental involvement, knowledge, and self-motivation to ensure the children receive a quality education. For an expat Mum like me, homeschooling is a good try to balance cultural education and ensure family values are not lost among modern chaos. I believe, homeschooling is a lifestyle and great upbringing, involving the entire family (yes dear Mums – not only you should be responsible for your children’s education and that decision should be agreed mutually with your spouse) and shaping its daily routine.
“I’m not telling you it’s going to be easy. I’m telling you it’s going to be worth it.”
ART WILLIAMS
I leave you and myself with this powerful quote. Advantages and disadvantages will come up along with experience. So as I stand here at the beginning of our homeschooling days, I’ll leave it to life to verify if that direction is good for us.
picture source: pexels
I would love to hear your comments on this! Do you have any friends in India who follow homeschooling? How is your/their experience? Do you have any questions that I haven’t answered? Thank you very much for reading this article. I am curious if you have/had any experience of yours? Any comments? – please share your experience. And if you liked the article – share it, click “Like it” and subscribe to my newsletter.
