My Take | End the colonial-era ban on home-schooling
- With more families opting out of the public education system and international options being prohibitively expensive, the government should make it easier for those wanting neither
When my children were younger, I fantasised about home-schooling them. The reasoning was simple: the local system’s cutthroat competition meant my wife and I would be coaching them at home with homework, tests and exams anyway.
International schooling was prohibitively expensive. Some schools cost more than what you would pay putting your child through an overseas university. It’s enough to bankrupt you after a few years.
So, why not home-schooling? It’s cheaper, delivers better results, and your children are happier; or so I thought. However, it breaks the law in Hong Kong. The ban on home-schooling is no doubt out of date, as it was originally imposed by the colonial government to discourage child labour. On the other hand, the authorities rarely enforce it beyond giving you a warning.
That may be why more families, both local and expatriate, are opting out of the public system. A survey by the city’s home-schooling community finds that there are at least 60 home-schooling families accounting for 97 children, of whom 68 are aged between six and 15.
But, while the threat of legal sanctions was minimal, my wife and I decided against it after talking to several experienced parents. With all due respect to their courage and dedication, not all parents, however intelligent and well-educated, are equipped to do the job for the long haul, year in and year out, at least not without more sustained support both financially and academically from society.