Legislators reject homeschooling by parents who lack literacy.

 Legislators reject homeschooling by parents who lack literacy.

The joint select committee (JSC) of Parliament, which is examining the Jamaica Teaching Council Act, has vehemently opposed the idea that parents who lack literacy should be permitted to provide education for their children (2022).

Homeschooling families testified before the committee on Thursday, and Government Senator Natalie Campbell Rodriques argued against the idea that came up during the discussion. She emphasised that she would oppose any such requirement and that anyone who homeschools should be subject to a police record check. She said that lawmakers are not against homeschooling, as seen by the JSC's agreement to consider the group's late submissions, but that kids need to be protected.

We have a duty to protect children at all costs, even though homeschooling is not [designed] to imitate what occurs in the classroom in and of itself. It is imperative that we always err on the side of protecting the child, not because of parental preference or religious conviction. The nation will eventually pay a price if we assign the task of educating our children to someone who is not proficient in reading and writing. Under no circumstances should we permit someone who can hardly read or write to teach our children curricula, she insisted.

However, Campbell Rodrigues concurred with the families that the JTC Bill's homeschooling provisions needed more clarification.

She stated that children must also be shielded from domestic abuse. "It can't be in a situation where homeschooling is prohibited by the government. In an effort to safeguard our kids from harm and make sure they receive the correct education, we have a place that we will always uphold "She emphasised.

Homeschoolers do not need to be certified teachers, but there should be a minimum requirement: "If you can barely read, you shouldn't be homeschooling," according to Campbell Rodrigues.

Royena Murphy, who informed the committee that her family has been homeschooling for nine years, emphasised that even in circumstances where a homeschooler faces difficulties, there are other options which can facilitate an efficient at-home education, such as enlisting the assistance of a tutor and co-op parent groups. "There are numerous ways to homeschool without the parent teaching the child, so if the parent feels inadequate or that they need help, then there are other paths to investigate; there are many hybrid ways, but it's still a homeschool setting," she said.

Even with these choices, the senator claimed, there is still a risk of parents who fail to acknowledge their own lack of ability as teachers. "That's the source of the issue. What about the parent who is so preoccupied with themselves and their own abilities that they fail to realise they can hardly read and are unfit to be a teacher? We owe it to those kids to keep them away from parents who don't see that they lack that capacity.

Parent Danielle McNish questioned the necessity of the notion that people should be required to have a clear criminal record in order to educate at home. "If you want to declare that you homeschool, you can only do so once your child becomes six, which is considered school age. She questioned the group's members, "If I as a parent chose to keep my child at home between zero and five, why is it that at six I suddenly need a police record if I want to keep them home longer?"