Homeschooling in India has become a rising trend. Parents are vexed with a failing education system which does not recognize the child as an individual. Countless schools come and go yet very few have succeeded in recognizing the freedom of the child. In India, JK Schools, Waldorf schools and some others do achieve this within school system.Â
Rising number of educated parents are taking the rather tough decision to unschool their children. For years, parents have accepted mediocre teachers vs quality teachers. Branded schools have children rushing to tuition centres for 2 hours more after schools from decades. Nothing much has changed since the present generation of parents studied in their schools. Even then, most students used to go to tuition, many times to the home of the same school teacher who was teaching the subject to the child.Â
Children start a painful journey when they are 3.5 yrs old,14 yrs of schooling makes them eligible for graduation. At average of 265 working days for 12 yrs& 200 days for preschool+ hrs spent on homework, brings us close to 29840 hrs. All this for just the highest score in 10th and +2, If there are no state ranks in 10th and if its not linked to proof of birth, then the stress would be pushed to +2, not 10th. But 10th is symbolic because many stop education after that.Â
The primary reason of parents to take their children away from mainstream education is because they feel that children are losing their identity in the academic curriculum which alone forms the crux of schools. Schools are least bothered to build innovation in the child. Home schooling allows the child to be creative and also learn the most crucial life skills which in 14 years of education, schools do not teach and instead thrust it upon the parent to teach the same.Â
Lack of sports in schools despite having big playgrounds and lack of good physical education teachers has harmed sportiveness in children. India is missing several athletics and sports people only because of the exam based school system. Govt schools have turned up more atheletes only because of a good coach or a extraordinary parent like Mahavir Singh Phogat. Not all parents are like Mahavir who believe in the talent of the children and allow them to rise to their best despite the criticism of the world around them. Mahavir Singh Phogat homeschooled babita in wrestling, did not send her to any teacher.
Every Homeschooling parent today wants their child to grow the way they want, to bloom, to be happy yet Schools have turned students into zombies. The very few who come out successful from this school system are those with interested parents who fill in the gaps that the education system creates.Â
