Damares says the bill on homeschooling is ready.

Mariana Tokarnia, reporter for Agência Brasil - The Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights announced this morning (29) that it has drafted a first version of the provisional measure that will regulate home schooling in the country. In a note, the ministry explains that the details of the regulation will only be released when the text is finalized, as it may undergo changes in the Civil House and the National Congress.

The Minister of Education, Damares Alves, emphasized that although the issue falls within the field of education, "it is a family demand" and should therefore be suggested by the ministry she heads. "We understand that it is the right of parents to decide on the education of their children; it is a matter of human rights. Therefore, the initiative comes from this ministry from this perspective. It is also a matter of human rights. And we are signatories to the Pact of San José, Costa Rica, which guarantees this to families," she stated, according to her press office.

Supreme Court
Last year, the Brazilian Supreme Court (STF) ruled not to recognize homeschooling for children. According to the Court, the Constitution only provides for the public or private education model, where enrollment is mandatory, and there is no law authorizing this practice.

According to the reasoning adopted by the majority of the justices, the request made in the appeal, which discussed the possibility of homeschooling being considered lawful, cannot be granted, since there is no legislation regulating the precepts and rules applicable to this type of education.

During the discussion at the Supreme Federal Court (STF) last year, the Attorney General's Office (AGU) and the Prosecutor General's Office (PGR) expressed their opposition to homeschooling. The PGR argued that "the use of instruments and methods of home education for children and adolescents of school age, as a substitute for education in school establishments, by choice of parents or guardians, does not find its own basis in the Federal Constitution."

Priority measures
Regulating the right to home education, known as homeschooling, is among the 35 priority goals for the first 100 days of Jair Bolsonaro's government.

The demand for regulation of homeschooling was brought to the government by the National Association of Homeschooling (Aned). The association's president, Ricardo Dias, says he approached the Ministry of Education (MEC) and the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights. According to him, the issue was well received in both ministries, but it was decided that the latter would be responsible for ensuring regulation.

"We suggested a Provisional Measure. We went to the government in light of the situation the Supreme Court left families in, in a kind of legal limbo. It was a very strange decision, even a little paradoxical. What the Supreme Court said is that the Constitution doesn't prohibit it, but it also doesn't guarantee it. To guarantee it, there has to be a law, and if there's a law, okay," he says.

The organization participated in drafting the provisional measure. According to Dias, it is a simple text whose main objective is not to impose major restrictions on homeschooling, such as requiring, for example, a degree in pedagogy. He estimates that more than 90% of parents who homeschool their children do not have this training.

According to the president of Aned, the proposed text should guarantee children who study at home the same rights as other children, such as student ID cards and the right to pay half-price for cultural attractions. Furthermore, it should include a national registry of families who choose this type of education.

"We are in favor of having some kind of record. This is important, even to avoid being confused with truancy," says Dias, adding that this would help with government oversight.

The latest survey by Aned, from 2018, shows that 7,5 families educate their children at home – a number that represents more than double the 3,2 families identified in 2016. It is estimated that 15 children receive home education. The government estimates that 31 families are adopting this modality.

Regulation
If the provisional measure is approved, homeschooling will have to be regulated by the National Education Council (CNE). In 2000, the council issued an opinion advising that children and adolescents be enrolled in duly authorized schools. The CNE also understands that current legislation emphasizes "the importance of the exchange of experiences, the exercise of mutual tolerance, not under the control of parents but in the coexistence of classrooms, school corridors, recreation spaces, group excursions outside of school, in the organization of sports, literary or social activities, which demand more than just siblings, so that they reproduce society, where citizenship will be exercised."

Contacted by Agência Brasil, the CNE (National Education Council) says this is the latest position from the body, which has not yet had access to the text of the provisional measure. The issue is on the CNE's agenda, which held seminars and meetings on the subject last year.

(Read more about this topic at Brazil 247)