Homeschooling: Govt must assess the students

Posted: 04 Sep 2010 06:55 PM PDT

Homeschooling: Government must assess the students

I FIND the article on homeschooling ("Off to school... at home" -- New Sunday Times, Aug 8) refreshing and enlightening. However, I have certain reservations about the idea of homeschooling.

Parents who homeschool their children must ensure that the syllabus is the same or parallel with the nation's educational goals and vision. As these parents mostly plan to send their children abroad for tertiary education, there are risks that they might skip certain subjects covered in Kurikulum Baru Sekolah Rendah and Kurikulum Baru Sekolah Menengah, and concentrate on subjects evaluated in internationally accepted examinations.

These children might come back and serve the nation after their studies without the basic knowledge, values and even the spirit of patriotism that the nation wants to instil in every citizen.

While most homeschooling programmes emphasise mastery-learning rather than rote-learning, it is important that the government monitor and assess the development of homeschooled children at least half-yearly.

This will allow parents and the government to gauge whether further attention or support is required so that these children will not be left far below the national standards.

It will also determine whether the children are progressing faster than other students, thus requiring other accelerated learning programmes.

The assessment is also crucial in cases where parents have to send their children back to public schools after a few years of homeschooling due to financial or other reasons. The assessment will help the school to accept the children and allocate proper classes and special attention, if needed.

Public universities should also allow Malaysian students with international examination qualifications to pay local rates instead of the international student tuition fee rates.

Parents may find themselves in a predicament if their homeschooled children fail to get scholarships or grants, should their children opt to attend a local higher learning institution.

I feel homeschooling is ideal for children who are above or below the average standard as their needs may not be catered to at the mainstream schools.

However, certain assessments must be made compulsory to gauge the parents' preparedness and qualifications to ensure they provide quality education for their children. Some parents may not be physically, mentally and technically competent to teach their children, unlike formal educators who undergo training.

In the case of gifted children, there may be a high tendency for parents to homeschool them as these parents may feel that they are able to provide a better accelerated learning programme that enable their children to achieve their maximum potential in the shortest period of time.

Since not all parents are properly equipped to homeschool their children, the government should provide a resource centre or a special school to meet the requirements of these gifted children. Akademi Permata Pintar can be a solution, provided enrolment starts from Year One.

If distance and accommodation are issues for these children, distance learning programmes and periodical assessments may be a way to ensure that these bright stars stay in top form before they are ready for the academy.

MD RIDZUAN MD HAMID
Kuala Lumpur

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Homeschooling

Sunday, September 5, 2010