When Pali came back from the US, deserted and heart
broken, she had only solace in her eight year son Ved. Pali was fighting her
battle with the family for a few years and finally terminated her relation with
Rishi’s father for life. It wasn’t easy for her but what became more difficult
is to ensure a good future for her child. India has grown since she had left
after her marriage. People are more open, more accepting and more
vocal. It seemed, it wouldn’t be difficult for Pali to live single in the small
flat that she had inherited from her parents. The
challenge came when she had to look for the schools for her son. No school was
readily accepting the child who came in between the session. A countable few
who did wanted a huge donation. After days of pleading every possible school
she knew of, Pali decided to take it no more.
Homeschooling is a common concept in the US. With so many
resources, and community support you are
never alone if you are homeschooling your child. In India, it might sound a new
concept but who can forget the likes of Rabindranath Tagore and Shri Aurobindo
who were homeschooled and propagated the true concept of homeschooling!
Pali decided to homeschool her son. She had had a
Montessori training after she got her degree in Major. Even though, that would
mean nothing, but she decided to pull up her socks to go about the bestpossible ways to educate her son with
the best kind of resources while still at home. She had a few basics
to be answered before that though.
How it works in India?
There is no separate syllabus for homeschooling children.
The parents solely decide on that. Some follow regular board
syllabus and others design their own curriculum by referring to syllabi of
different boards.
In 2009, a new education law was passed that mandated
compulsory school attendance. This law (Right to Free and Compulsory Education
Act of 2009 – RTE) did not address home education options, or alternative forms
of education. The RTE was designed to assure that the poor children would not
be deprived of an education. But at the same time it did not intent to force school
attendance when parents want to homeschool their children.
Can a homeschooler
join regular classes ever?
On reaching Class 10, or whenever the parents feel their
children are ready, can take the board exam privately by registering with the
National Institute of Open Schooling or International General Certificate of
Secondary Education. The degree is acceptable all over the world.
What about the expenses?
The cost of homeschooling varies on what and how the
child learns. At times it may exceed the expense of regular schools.
Apart from routine requirements like books, CDs, learning and fun kits, one
also needs to pay for extra classes as and when required.
After getting into it, Pali had only one area of concern
– Rishi’s social networking skills. So, she decided to join the homeschoolers
community both online and offline. She also got her son enrolled for the guitar
classes, something he had great interest in. She decided to work harder and
worked on the possible flaws of the board curriculum that crammed the children.
She went for her own that was more stretchable, practical oriented and fun to
learn.
And, Pali never looked back after that.