COVID-19 Causes German Families to Rethink Homeschooling

The entire world is homeschooling, and while this option is normally unavailable in Germany, due to COVID-19, families are involuntarily homeschooling. For some, this is a miracle in disguise—for others, this is uncharted territory. But the consensus is that this is a viable option with many benefits to society and families who want to homeschool freely, not just during a crisis.

A few weeks ago, a petition was formed to legalize homeschooling in Germany, which now has almost 4,000 signatures and growing! The petition was launched by Elternlobby Bildungspflicht statt Präsenzpflicht, a parent lobbying organization.

The organization wrote the following:

“In recent weeks, due to the involuntary mandate to homeschool under Coronavirus conditions, many critical perspectives have been heard on the issue. Our group would like to be a voice for the positive homeschooling experience, in light of which we are petitioning for the right to homeschool to be preserved, even after the Coronavirus crisis is over.”

Germany imposes mandatory school attendance, and while many European countries allow for homeschooling, Germany has explicitly made this form of education illegal—which has caused many families to flee the country in order to exercise the right to home educate. One of the common factors to why these families chose homeschooling was the need for a more personal and individualized learning—something that the school systems are unable to provide.

Rising To the occasion

Due to COVID-19, while school has been taken “online,” many teachers are unable to provide sufficient education to their students. And the parents—who are unqualified to teach their children at home, according to the German government—have been forced to home educate due to the circumstances. Crisis or no, the current situation further proves that parents are, in fact, eligible to teach their children.

This is a common trend, not just one in Germany. Parents are feeling uncertain during these times, but Home School Legal Defense Association is here to empower parents and let them know that they CAN homeschool and that they can do it better than a one-size-fits-all classroom. Parents across the globe are finding out that they are more than equipped to teach their child outside of the school system.