Modern education has grown significantly as the globe has progressed, and it has developed as a combination of the conventional and the modern. Homeschooling is a progressive movement around the country (and the world) in which parents educate their children at home instead of sending them to a traditional public or private school. Families choose to homeschool for a variety of reasons, including dissatisfaction with the educational options available, different religious or educational philosophies, and the belief that children are not progressing within the traditional school structure.
Homeschooling in India is an alternative educational method that entails the child completing his education and learning at home rather than going to a traditional classroom environment, particularly after the COVID-19 Pandemic. While several countries have always been friendly to homeschooling, homeschooling in India still has a long way to go.
Homeschooling is an educational choice, wherein parents take charge of their child’s learning from the comfort of their homes. This means that the child is not enrolled in a physical school. But continues with his/her education at home under parental guidance.
It emphasises on building familial relationships rather than conforming to the conventional form of the educational system to help children gain knowledge. Children learn through associations made at home, real-life experience, and instructions provided by the family members or hired tutors who engage in lively discussions at a personal level.
As Albert Einstein said, "Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of minds to think." This goal of education can be achieved through homeschooling and is therefore legal in many countries. Homeschooling provides the space and scope to develop and nurture the potentials of a child.
Even though homeschooling is considered these days as an alternative, it was once the primary means of education in all households. World-famous personalities like Abraham Lincoln, Virginia Woolf, Rabindranath Tagore and Mozart were all homeschooled. So never think your child will lose out on anything if they are schooled at home.
Some of the benefits of homeschooling include:
One-on-one teaching allows the child to receive individual attention which is not possible in traditional classrooms, where the child often has to share the classroom with many other students, all of whom have diverse needs.
It allows parents to customize the academic learning of a child thereby developing their skills.
Homeschooling gives you the freedom to fix your own schedule and keep it flexible too. If you are busy in the morning, you can arrange to teach your child in the evening. Your schedule is entirely up to you to decide.
The parent-child bond can be strengthened through homeschooling. Since the child’s primary teachers are their parents, they get to spend quality family time with the people who care most about them.
Parents who are in any doubt about the safety of their children in schools could consider the alternative option of homeschooling.
Homeschooling gives students and parents the opportunity to focus on the inherent talents of the child and nurture them as well.
With the popularity of homeschooling in India, open education and learning have become more formalized to ensure that students learning through this form of education aren’t lacking in anything. Major academic institutions, both national and international have become involved in this alternative of learning.
The two major organizations that are associated with homeschooling in India are as given below :
NIOS is an open learning board in India that provides the platform for students to continue learning through homeschooling. The National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), originally the National Open School, is the Indian government’s educational board. Founded in 1989, it emerged as a platform for providing the nation with quality education along with polishing its skills and abilities. Like the CBSE and the CISCE, the NIOS conducts the examinations at secondary and senior secondary levels.
IGCSE is an internationally accredited qualification for students studying under the homeschooling pattern. The IGCSE is the world’s most popular exam qualification for 14 to 16 year olds, and the Cambridge IGCSE is recognised by universities and employers everywhere.
Cambridge IGCSE exams are held in May/June and in October/November each year. The May/June sitting is the more widely available. A March exam is also available to students in India.
Your child’s choice of IGCSE subjects can have a major bearing on their future education and career. Candidates appear for the examination as private candidates and can earn a qualification that is valued worldwide.