DRAFT: Homeschooling Regulations

[Araraukar]

Homeschooling Regulations

Category: Education & Creativity
AoE: Education

The World Assembly,

Aware of the various ways in which education can be passed from instructors to the students,

Not wishing to limit the process of learning into institutions alone, if viable alternatives are available,

Acknowledging that there are circumstances in which a student cannot attend school in the usual manner without endangering their health or wellbeing,

Hoping to settle the issue of homeschooling once and for all,

Hereby,

1. Defines, for the purposes of this resolution,

1. a student as a person who is learning new skills and information in a structured manner,
2. a teacher as a state-approved instructor qualified to pass knowledge and teach new skills to a student in an appropriate manner,
3. a school as an institution of learning, where teachers educate students in a location other than their home,
4. homeschooling as the process of teaching students in their own home, rather than in a school,
5. a tutor as a non-state-approved instructor passing knowledge and skills to a student, and who is not the student's legal guardian,

2. Mandates that all students wishing to be homeschooled, or whose legal guardian wishes them to be homeschooled, must be given access to

1. learning materials, such as factbooks and notebooks, which are on par with those they would have access to in a school,
2. proper healthcare, including counseling services and help with learning difficulties,
3. a qualified teacher, or a tutor who is properly supervised by a qualified teacher,
4. a peaceful environment in which to learn and study,

3. Clarifies that a teacher can be the student's legal guardian as long as they have qualified in a state-approved manner for their teaching duties,

4. Also clarifies that this resolution does not affect the legality of homeschooling itself,

5. Mandates that all member nations create a state-approved qualification program for teachers, regardless of if they intend to teach in a school or other environments,

6. Also mandates that the student's learning of the national curriculum is tested in an appropriate manner by an uninvolved party, such as attending a written exam overseen by another teacher who is not related to them,

7. And finally, requires that member nations publish their national curriculum in a way that makes it accessible, whether freely or by request, to all teachers, tutors as well as students and their legal guardians.

OOC: I tried to make the wording apply to both basic learning (think primary school) as well as vocational training or even a parent teaching their kid to learn to drive a car. I think it's important that the person teaching someone actually has some idea of what they're supposed to be teaching, as well as how they're supposed to do that. I've been reading some Finnish forums where parents who are having to suddenly homeschool their children, have complained of wildly varying resources to do that - some only get a tasklist from the child's teacher (often not even a timing-ordered one stretching for weeks), while others get video-streamed lessons from a proper teacher from an empty classroom, so that's why subclause 2.c. exists.

Oh and obviously not all the definitions are actually necessary, it's just my pedantic nature having some fun.

[Araraukar]

Changelog.

Added second clarifying clause (now clause 4). Draft otherwise remaining the same.

[Tinhampton]

EXTREMELY OPPOSED. If this passes as written, I intend to InstaRepeal! and replace this with a proposal which shall serve solely to guarantee the right of parents to direct the course of their childrens' education.

1b-1e: Suppose that John Smith, a fifteen-year-old whose parents are Mr and Mrs Smith, would like to be educated not at home or at a traditional school, but at the home of his next-door neighbours, Mr and Mrs Wilson. The Smiths have found a loophole in your Regulations, since the Wilsons are not qualified teachers (only tutors) and their family home is therefore neither a school nor an outlet for homeschooling. This proposal places no regulations on schools, therefore enabling John to happily plod through his "education" at an inferior quality than must be provided at licensed educational establishments and his own home.

2: Suppose that John Smith wishes to be homeschooled but his parents want him to remain at school, which he does. Poor John over here will still get access to the articles guaranteed in this clause simply due to his ineffective desire to be homeschooled!

3: Superfluous. As per 1b, all teachers (not just legal guardians of their students) must "have qualified in a state-approved manner for their teaching duties."

4: Support the first part but not the second part, for the above reasons.

5: I support this clause alone.

6: It would be beneficial for the general public to have access to the curriculum, and there is no explicit mandate here that necessarily all the curriculum be made available. You ignore the possibility that educational policy and curriculum-setting may be devolved to the provinces.

[Kyundao]

EXTREMELY OPPOSED. If this passes as written, I intend to InstaRepeal! and replace this with a proposal which shall serve solely to guarantee the right of parents to direct the course of their childrens' education.

1b-1e: Suppose that John Smith, a fifteen-year-old whose parents are Mr and Mrs Smith, would like to be educated not at home or at a traditional school, but at the home of his next-door neighbours, Mr and Mrs Wilson. The Smiths have found a loophole in your Regulations, since the Wilsons are not qualified teachers (only tutors) and their family home is therefore neither a school nor an outlet for homeschooling. This proposal places no regulations on schools, therefore enabling John to happily plod through his "education" at an inferior quality than must be provided at licensed educational establishments and his own home.

2: Suppose that John Smith wishes to be homeschooled but his parents want him to remain at school, which he does. Poor John over here will still get access to the articles guaranteed in this clause simply due to his ineffective desire to be homeschooled!

3: Superfluous. As per 1b, all teachers (not just legal guardians of their students) must "have qualified in a state-approved manner for their teaching duties."

4: Support the first part but not the second part, for the above reasons.

5: I support this clause alone.

6: It would be beneficial for the general public to have access to the curriculum, and there is no explicit mandate here that necessarily all the curriculum be made available. You ignore the possibility that educational policy and curriculum-setting may be devolved to the provinces.

Tinhampton, I'm starting to like you a lot more now than before.

[The New Nordic Union]

'We do believe that member nations should decide which forms of education to offer. Therefore, we are opposed to the proposal as stands, although the mandates set for the quality of homeschooling agree with us.'

OOC: Would have never thought I would use the 'leave the member nations decide' argument...

[Imperium Anglorum]

Does the proposal permit nations to require the attendance of students at state schools?

[Araraukar]

Does the proposal permit nations to require the attendance of students at state schools?

OOC: Not just you, IA, but also others: This particular proposal only touches on homeschooling the way the word is commonly understood (and defined in the proposal). If you want to make a proposal that is about state schools or the neighbour teaching your kids or whatever, feel free to do so.

...as for requiring attendance in state schools... it depends on if you're willing to do creative compliance (letter of the law rather than spirit of the law) or not. Araraukar would totally weasel its way out of needing to actually allow homeschooling (except in very specific cases like, say, a kid needing to live in super-clean environment due to immune system issues) even if this became the WA law.

EDIT: I have realized that clauses 5-7 still apply even if a nation does not allow homeschooling (none of the clauses actually mandate homeschooling to be allowed - which was intentional on my part, I admit), so ignore what I wrote here before.

[The New Sicilian State]

1b-1e: Suppose that John Smith,

OOC: Christ, I was on such a streak of not seeing anyone use my generic-ass RL name on this site. Time to pack it up...

2: Suppose that John Smith wishes to be homeschooled but his parents want him to remain at school, which he does. Poor John over here will still get access to the articles guaranteed in this clause simply due to his ineffective desire to be homeschooled!

"I can hardly see how this would become a problem. John would likely be offered these provisions regardless if he attended a normal educational institution. Well, except for the last provision in some extreme cases, but he should be still offered at the very least the illusion of safety."

[Tinfect]

OOC:
Rather importantly, can we not forcibly legalize homeschooling in the first place?

[Maowi]

OOC:
Rather importantly, can we not forcibly legalize homeschooling in the first place?

OOC: ^ This - I'd support this if it was mandating that homeschooling may not be used as an acceptable alternative to regular schooling unless it fulfills the criteria in the proposal.

[WA Kitty Kops]

OOC:
Rather importantly, can we not forcibly legalize homeschooling in the first place?

OOC: ^ This - I'd support this if it was mandating that homeschooling may not be used as an acceptable alternative to regular schooling unless it fulfills the criteria in the proposal.

OOC: First of all, pretend this is an Araraukar post, I cba switch back right now. Secondly, I'm not entirely certain you actually agree with what Tinfect said - which I read as her dislike of homeschooling being made legal at all - while you just want the criteria needing to be filled for homeschooling to be enabled, which the proposal already does, see clause 2's main clause.

[Kenmoria]

OOC: ^ This - I'd support this if it was mandating that homeschooling may not be used as an acceptable alternative to regular schooling unless it fulfills the criteria in the proposal.

OOC: First of all, pretend this is an Araraukar post, I cba switch back right now. Secondly, I'm not entirely certain you actually agree with what Tinfect said - which I read as her dislike of homeschooling being made legal at all - while you just want the criteria needing to be filled for homeschooling to be enabled, which the proposal already does, see clause 2's main clause.

(OOC: To clarify, this proposal doesn’t mandate the legalisation of home-schooling?)

[Araraukar]

(OOC: To clarify, this proposal doesn’t mandate the legalisation of home-schooling?)

OOC: Not directly, no. Hence it's named Homeschooling Regulations. If the nation allows homeschooling, it (and all the people involved) has to follow the regulations laid out. Should I have a clarifying clause?

Clauses 4-6 apply still, whether the nation does homeschooling or not. EDIT: Clauses 5-7 now.

[Imperium Anglorum]

I would include the clarifying clause if it's asked so much.

[Araraukar]

I would include the clarifying clause if it's asked so much.

OOC: Would "Clarifies that this resolution does not mandate homeschooling to be completely legalized, but rather sets regulations on the practice if a member nation chooses to allow it" work? Or is that too wordy/not clear enough?

[Imperium Anglorum]

I would have written something like "Clarifies that this resolution does not affect the legality of homeschooling itself".

[Araraukar]

I would have written something like "Clarifies that this resolution does not affect the legality of homeschooling itself".

OOC: Mind if I use that wording?

[Imperium Anglorum]

Sure, you can use it.

[Araraukar]

OOC: I was asked to bump this... so, consider this a bump and request for fresh feedback.

[Honeydewistania]

I wonder if it would be feasible to mandate that students have access to facilities found in schools such as science labs (unless that counts as a peaceful environment, then that’s fine)

[Kenmoria]

“Is clause 2 intended to require homeschooling tutors, such as parents, to provide these materials, or to require member states to provide these materials? Also, your current definition of ‘student’ includes adults taking online courses, which should probably be fixed.”

[Merni]

OOC: In a resolution related to homeschooling, why are clauses 6 and 7 suddenly diverging to mandate that member states have national curricula and examine their students on their knowledge thereof? Countries needn't have "national curricula" at all, in the first place.

[Araraukar]

OOC: Good questions/observations. I'll have to check my notes from back when I first wrote up the draft (once I find them - the downside of physical notes is easily misplacing the notebook) and then check some extant resolutions to see if the ideas still work as intended...

EDIT: I think the "national curriculum" was meant as a non-HoC reference to the list here.