Re: [IAC#RG] Need help securing the rights of homeschoolers

Vidyut

In terms of the India Against Corruption Charter, we can help individuals or groups of individuals ... to resolve their grievances. Furthermore "Educational reform" and "Healthcare reform and delivery" are thrust areas indicated by our members in our Charter doc.

As we are presently discussing the "rights" of CHILDREN to be homeschooled, the view seems to be that they have no right to be homeschooled. They do have rights to be schooled in "appropriate" NEIGHBOURHOOD facilities. The rights for your son (as observed by Mr. Gaur) actually flow from the Constitution through the PWD Act 1995, and the RTE Act has apparently failed to adequately provide/legislate POLICY for disabled citizens like your son in consonance with PWD Act. This is an issue to be resolved between the Welfare Ministry and the MHRD so that the appropriate governments can enforce it.

The PWD Act contains, at least on paper, a number of grievance redressal mechanisms, and a grand vision of a future "international" standard education for the disadvantaged. Perhaps you can start using these grievance mechanisms ? BTW, we have many list members individually waging war with MHRD and perhaps its time we come under IAC's banner for it..

Sarbajit

On Sat, Jun 27, 2015 at 11:54 AM, Vidyut <wide.aware@gmail.com> wrote:

Sarbajit,

Support for disabled children outside metros is lacking. RTE puts the onus on schools to go the extra mile to accept disabled children in normal schools, which probably would apply where special facilities are not available. Given the under funded, under staffed schools, this is a tall order. Worse, the "abled" penchant for educating disabled children to "empower" them can be really absurd given that this is a child who will likely need life long care. What difference does it make whether he learns the botanical name of something or not? Is his learning not better off being relevant to his circumstances and needs? Many disabled children to not have the strength, energy and stamina of normal children. They tire easily, have less control of their limbs. Shouldn't education, in that case be even more laser focused to use that small window of ability to impart the most essential and useful things instead of an ambitious array of things not useful for most people, let alone disabled children?

But beyond that, it isn't an issue of disability. Whether disabled or normal, a child should not be prevented from a unique, quality environment the parent is willing to provide for its learning.

For example, my parenting beliefs do not allow me to keep my son with anyone except me or extremely trusted and attentive people he is comfortable with before he learns to speak adequately enough to convey if he has a problem - I don't care what qualifications the govt thinks teachers have or even teachers for special needs have. My compass as a parent deems it my responsibility to ensure the well being of my child. My parenting beliefs also do not allow me to leave my son ANYWHERE without his consent. Kids crying at the gate is not acceptable parenting, in my opinion. That they adapt when given no choice is no redemption either.

There is something fundamentally wrong with a world that forces independence on children at younger and younger ages (in a world where adults often cannot judge people reliably) and then nags adult offspring for not being close. Why would a child that had to make sense of an alien world on his or her own cling to a parent after making sense of it?

My child does not even get insulted, let alone hit. I cannot trust schools to not abuse him given the low quality and emotional quotient of teachers themselves rooted in a culture of authority being right and a child's space not having any inherent value. Taunts, sarcasm, scoldings, public humiliation, domination, overruling a child's wish (and thus autonomy) for no critical reason are normal behavior of teachers in schools - even where teachers are not allowed to hit children.

These are views that are extremely prevalent among homeschoolers. The child is the topmost consideration in all choices and is respected as an individual with intelligence, preferences and the right to choose as far as possible. So it is an entire category of people who number in the tens of thousands probably (and growing!) that the RTE rides rough shod over.

Right now homeschoolers find chinks, keep head down and hope their kids are over 14 before the other RTE shoe drops, etc. Others convince local schools to enroll their children on record, but never send them to school and hope they can get away with it. There is the constant fear that the law could be used to target them and even take children away from them - by a spouse in the event of divorce, would be a prime example. I know two women who had to settle for a no maintenance divorce - for them or kids when their husband threatened to take them away for homeschooling, or force her to send them to school - when they had no problem with homeschooling, indeed supported it and were active participants. I face this threat too from someone who never bathed his son in five years.

So this is how our rights get violated. No idea how to put it specifically as an answer to your question. Basic issue is that we hold child rights to a very very high degree and that the education system (specifically as per RTE) is not compatible with it.

In case anyone is interested, on a side note, here is a vision of schools that could respect children's rights and allow them to thrive https://aamjanata.com/school-reloaded/ - if there were such a school, I'd send my child there.

Vidyut