Homeschooling or Elective Home Education (EHE) is the process of educating children at home or any other place apart from school by parents, tutor or online teacher. Until the 19th century schooling was considered the only means of education for children but by the mid 20th century people started questioning the efficiency of sending their children to school. This led to an increase in homeschooling in America and some European countries.

Homeschooling in India:-

Homeschooling is allowed in India. Under the Right to Education Act our Indian government does not consider homeschooling or online education as a violation of the education system.

According to sources approximately 15,000 Indian families have chosen homeschooling for their children. They believe the safety of children is their primary concern. The open learning board in India called  National Institute of Open Schooling ( NIOS) allows children to take up homeschooling and also permits 10th and 12th board examinations. 

Homeschooling is allowed in CBSE. They can take up 10th and 12th board examinations as private candidates.

Advantages of Homeschooling:-

One of the best advantages of homeschooling is that the child gets full attention from his teacher. He or she is the only one studying, so it gets easy for the child and teacher to communicate and talk through problems. 

Mostly it is observed that children pickup a rebellious streak in school and often stop spending time with their family. In homeschooling children can spend quantity and quality time with their parents. 

As a conventional classroom is full of children mostly many voices go unheard and unnoticed. But in homeschooling the child is free to speak and pour his/her thoughts and this makes a child emotionally stronger.

Flexible timing as there is no need to get up in the morning to rush to school. 

Disadvantages of Homeschooling:-

In India, one of the major disadvantages is that people are not much aware of this concept. They consider homeschooling is for special or disabled children. So it gets a little difficult to explain this to others. 

Homeschooling is not as fast-paced as regular schooling. The child can feel a little left behind in studies. 

Homeschooling affects the child's emotional growth and social skills. Children feel lonely and as they grow up they will find it difficult to make friends. 

Every parent should weigh both pros and cons before considering homeschooling for their children.

WRITER- SHRUTI NAIR