Homeschool World Forum

A homeschooling friend and I were talking yesterday and the question of HSing in Europe came up. Are there certain countries in Europe that it's illegal to HS in? Which ones?

I appreciate any input!

It's still illegal in Germany, but I don't think any others are. Some are more heavily regulated, though.

HS is also, in practice, illegal in Sweden, at least as of next year. Spain is another country, though in Catalonia the laws have recently changed. It is also illegal in Greece I believe and Romania and Bosnia. Countries which for sure allow it are Norway, Finland, Denmark, Netherlands (restricted), UK (with a sizable number), Ireland, Portugal, France, Italy (restricted), Belgium, Czech Republic, Austria. That's all I can think of at the moment.

Here's info about the homeschooling situation & legality in most countries (although some of the info might not be quite up to date, of course):

http://www.hslda.org/hs/international/default.asp


I'm from Finland, and though here it is legal, it's not really socially accepted, I have to say; there are very few kids who are homeschooled, so it's virtually unheard of, and most people seem to think you must be barking mad to do something like that , and the children will definitely end outside society, etc... So the legality and the situation in reality are not always quite the same thing, unfortunately.
Aso, those few who do homeschool have to undergo annual (or biannual) checks by local school authorities to test the child's progress according to the national curriculum, so this makes e.g. unschooling very, very difficult...

Not sure if I'm not too late to answer your question, but I'll do it anyway.

I'm living in Belgium, which has two different departments of education, one for the Flemish speaking part of the country, one for the French speaking part. I live in the Flemish (Dutch) speaking part, Flanders.

With what I've heard about homeschooling in Europe, I suppose we have the most 'free' system there could possibly be. In Flanders you have to 'learn' till your 18th birthday, but what you learn and how you do it is entirely up to you. No restrictions, no mandatory tests, no what so ever, except you have to accept inspection once in a while and if the inspectors decide you're not doing a well enough job two times in a row you have to send your child (back) to school.

The rules state you should prepare your child for adult life (meaning it should be able to work) and you have to teach respect for other cultures. The rules are basically a copy of the bill of human rights. The inspectors actually read some parts of it when they visited us the first time.

Strictly, inspectors don't have the right to question your visions, your methods or the content of your lessons as long as your child learns something. That's the theory. In reality, I hear that 'unschoolers' have a hard time convincing their children are indeed learning something.

Personally I would - in your case - advise to teach your child a basis of Dutch or at least let it participate in some kind of social activities where it can pick up some Dutch. Inspectors very much like that children 'get out' and have social interactions with people outside the family. You could argument that you can't teach Dutch yourself and that children are flexible enough to learn it themselves.

To complete the other replies: Spain and Germany are definitely not the right countries, totally forbidden. The Netherlands too, there's only an exception if there isn't a school in a reasonable distance of your home that teaches according to your 'philosophy'. For instance, you have a very specific, not so popular religion that no school would live by. Austria: tests every year and if you don't speak German well enough you're not allowed to teach your child (you have to get an approval). French speaking part of Belgium (Wallonia): tests - I think - every two years.

Strangely enough, us having the most liberal system does not make homeschooling popular in Flanders. Last year there were 911 of us (vs about 1.1 million in school). It has mostly to do with what Florenna already mentioned, you being some kind of paria. But I don't care and I don't have any problems at all.

Hope this helps. Wish you good luck!