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Matthew Murchie, 17,  St Joseph's College
In many countries around the world, children are not legally obligated to attend school. In England, France, Canada, the United States and Australia, it is perfectly legal for parents to educate their kids at home.
Often, parents take this course of action for religious reasons. Freedom of religion is one of our most basic rights, and many parents prefer to bring up their children based on their own religious and moral principles. 
Other parents are  unhappy with the quality of education offered at many schools. They feel their children do not receive the tutoring they deserve. Yet other parents want to protect their children from being bullied.
Whatever the reasons, parents, as their children's legal guardians, should have the right to make important decisions regarding their children's future, including what education they receive.
Let's face it: a unified education system simply cannot cater for the individual needs of each and every student. On the other hand, home education can be tailor-made for each child's specific requirements by those who best understand them: their parents. 
Home schooling has been shown to be very effective. Statistics show that a large number of youngsters who have been home-schooled are accepted into top universities around the globe. These students are in no way disadvantaged academically compared to 'normal' students. 
It is a basic right of children to receive the best education available to them. Home schooling should not only be legalised but also actively encouraged.
Elise Choi, 16,  Sai Kung Sung Tsun Catholic School
If parents were allowed to keep their children at home and stop them from going to school, children's learning and personal development would both be affected. 
First of all, the many temptations at home, such as television and computer games, would prevent them from concentrating on learning. If parents punished their children for this, the parent-child relationship would suffer. 
Moreover, most parents are not professional teachers. I don't think they can do a good job as teachers. There are many subjects they may not know enough about which makes them incapable of educating their children.
Things are different at school, where teachers specialise in only a few subjects. In addition, teachers are supervised to ensure they do their job properly.
More importantly, school is not only a place for absorbing knowledge; it's also a place where children can socialise and make friends. If they can only communicate with parents or siblings at home, their social life will suffer. Peer learning has vital benefits as well. By communicating with friends, students can improve their interpersonal skills.
In addition, children learn discipline at school, where they have to follow many rules and regulations. This will help them become more responsible people.
Lastly, in school, children can take part in group projects, which they could not do at home. 
As a result, I am strongly opposed to the idea of educating children at home rather than in school.



Should parents be allowed to educate their children at home?