January 25, 2007
Families in France Turn to Homeschooling Despite Heavy Regulation
More and more families are turning to homeschooling in France. New legislation requires that homeschoolers be inspected every year from ages 6 to 16. The inspections are subjective and the requirements are vague. The “approval” depends on the arbitrary whims of the local administrator.
Homeschoolers can avoid inspection by being enrolled in recognized correspondence courses from France. Unfortunately, Belgian correspondence courses are not allowed. The question that is being debated at present is whether or not American correspondence courses are allowed and they are attempting to change policy to allow other country’s courses as well.
Homeschoolers are also subject to periodic testing. Some families are told they have to bring their children in for hours of testing at the same level as the public school children are tested. Many families have politely objected to this kind of request by the local school inspector challenging the request by citing the law. It seems that the law is somewhat vague and open to challenge.
As of 2007, three small, non-religious homeschool groups exist in France. They have formed a leadership working group and that group is in contact with the Home School Legal Defense Association.
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