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Home work: Comfort of homeschooling

At age nine, Shelly Daruwala can quote Kipling and Khayyam fluently and conduct elaborate chemistry experiments in her kitchen.

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Fed up with the many failings of India's education system, a growing number of families are opting for the comfort of homeschooling. Taran N Khan reports

At age nine, Shelly Daruwala can quote Kipling and Khayyam fluently and conduct elaborate chemistry experiments in her kitchen. In the Mohamedy home, six-year-old Khadija rattles off complex spellings while her brothers, Suleman and Yusuf, repair a computer keyboard for their dad.

These children seem to know much more than kids their age? Their parents say it is because they don’t go to school. These are children who thrive in a world without syllabi, schedules, heavy school bags and vitriolic teachers.

Fed up with the failings of India’s education system and driven by the desire to give their children a unique experience, a small but growing band of Indian families is leaving behind the classroom for the radically alternative methods of  homeschooling.

Like Jogesh Motwani and Lakshmi Rangaraj, who didn’t even consider enrolling their three-year-old, Mahuli. “I don’t send her to school for the same reason I wouldn’t put a cigarette in her mouth, it’s bad for her,” says Motwani. Instead the couple wants to bring up Mahuli with Gandhian values and a strong sense of social justice. 

Nearly two million students in the US are home-schooled. There is a strong network of activities, an $870-million market in teaching products and a legal lobby that has ensured most American colleges institute a separate policy for them. Though similar support systems for home-schooling are missing in Mumbai, the trend is definitely picking up, for a variety of reasons.

For the Mohamedys, it was because they wanted to provide a “good Islamic atmosphere” for the family. “We didn’t want our children to be to be exposed to the negative influences that are common nowadays,” say Nikhat and Ashraf. Naheed Khan, on the other hand, blames schools’ indifference. “On the basis of her English worksheets, the school psychologist said my 10-year-old daughter, Sana, was learning disabled. She did not meet Sana or consider her excellent results in other subjects.”

And so these free-spirited parents are bravely taking on the responsibility of providing their children a well-rounded education, free of rigid curriculum and schedules. “We don’t follow any course or timetable, or spend more than 45 minutes with books,” says Madhavi Daruwala.

Suchitra and Shelly, in fact, decide what they want to explore each day. Lessons are constructed around art, puppets, reading, cooking or watching educational programmes. Motwani and Rangaraj regularly take Mahuli to sit beside the sea, where she watches the waves and asks questions about tides and marine life.

It’s an education that prepares the children for the real world and improves their academic and mental abilities, the parents say. Moreover, they insist, the child is less burdened and less pressured.

And while Ashraf admits that Khadija misses her classmates occasionally, they try to compensate with swimming classes and reading groups. Daruwala insists her daughters are now better equipped to deal with all social groups as “they don’t have any of the inhibitions that come from being stuck in the artificially homogenous school environment”.

But how can two people, sometimes one, replace an entire staff of teachers? While Khan leaves the teaching to a private tutor, Daruwala’s justification is that she had to repeat lessons even when her children were going to school. Besides, the children get undivided attention.

Providing your child a full-fledged education at home however is not easy. Besides the fact that one parent needs to be with the kids at all times, families have to deal with unsolicited opinions from family and friends.

Khan sometimes considered giving in because “society doesn’t let you live!” Sana would even avoid telling curious neighbours she had left school. Knowing she wasn’t alone gave Khan the confidence. “I found other home-schooling parents on the internet; talking to them helped.”

But Rangaraj admits that parents like her need a network of home-schoolers with regular meetings and support systems, “so our kids don’t feel like freaks”.

Despite the difficulties, these parents continue to stand by their beliefs. “I don’t want Mahuli to be a tycoon. I just want her to have a fulfilled life,” says Motwani. “But I need to be practical as well, so she will take exams.”  And if these unshackled kids get too much to handle, Daruwala knows the ideal threat. “I tell them to behave or I’ll send them back to school. That always works!”

Everything you wanted to know about homeschooling

Is homeschooling legal?
Yes, it is legal for parents to teach children at home in India. While some states do have provisions that make it compulsory for parents to send children to school, these are rarely enforced. Government regulations are mostly concerned with kids left out of school for socio-economic reasons.

The ‘homeschooling by choice’ phenomenon is largely outside the ambit of official control at the moment, since it is a new and evolving trend. The National Institute of Open Schooling is a government body established to facilitate study by children outside the school system. 

How do I set the right curriculum?
Certain children choose to follow the regular course prescribed in schools, which they study at home. In this case, children study the same subjects and books they would in a classroom, but in a more personalised manner. Parents can arrange for their children to take exams as private candidates at a regular school.

Others adopt a more liberal approach, mixing advanced levels in subjects their children are comfortable with while going easy on the difficult areas. Another option is to avoid curriculum-based studies entirely, letting children choose what they want to learn, with no structured timetables or course material.

Where can I get material to teach my child?
Special course material and educational tools are available for home taught children abroad, but these tend to be expensive.  In India, most parents get by using a mix of schoolbooks, magazines and a heavy helping of the Internet. Educational CD ROMs and television programming are also favoured tools, as are simple games and props for teaching maths and spellings.

What are the best websites I can use for support?
In India, www.alternativeducationinindia.net is a useful site for homeschoolers from across the country, with contact groups for different cities including Mumbai. The Home Schooling Legal Defence Association (HSLDA) links to www.youcanhomeschool.org, with tips for getting started. It also hosts  an online curricula market where homeschoolers can trade course materials and books. www.holtgws.com is an introduction to homeschooling through the works of pioneering reformer John Holt, with links to books, resources and private consultations.

Exam options for homeschooled kids
The National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS). Homeschoolers can directly use NIOS to take the exams for class X and XII. They are only required to register with the body a year before they want to take the exam. Certificates issued by NIOS carry the same recognition as other Boards and are valid for taking competitive exams.

Students can also explore appearing for CBSE and ICSE Boards directly at X and XII levels as private candidates. Each state has its own requirements for this provision.

The British Council conducts examinations for the General Certificate of Education (GCE), an internationally recognised system at the O and A levels. Study circles help prepare students with course material, tests and guidance.

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