Dagmar Rösler on homeschooling and equal opportunities

“Teaching children at home takes away their opportunities”

More children than ever before are being educated at home in Switzerland. The head teacher, Dagmar Rösler, is concerned about this trend and says what she finds disturbing about it.

Published today at 6:01 am

“I notice that some parents no longer trust their children to get through something,” says the President of the Swiss Association of Teachers, Dagmar Rösler.

Photo: Gaëtan Bally (Keystone)

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Homeschooling is trendy – even after the pandemic. 4160 children will be born in Switzerland taught at home by their parents or a teacher. This is more than ever before. In cantons such as Bern, Zurich, Vaud, Neuchâtel and Lucerne the numbers are rising continuously. On the other hand, some cantons such as Zug, Basel-Stadt, St. Gallen or Uri are very strict and only rarely grant exceptions for homeschooling.

The top teacher Dagmar Rösler is now calling for stricter and uniform rules for homeschooling in Switzerland. The conference of cantonal education directors is intended to address the homeschooling problem. Rösler, central president of the Swiss Teachers Association since 2019, is critical of the phenomenon and believes that equal opportunities are at risk.

Ms. Rösler, you demand that homeschooling should be regulated more strictly and uniformly throughout Switzerland. What’s bothering you?

When it comes to homeschooling, I find it illogical when the conditions vary so much from canton to canton. And the differences are massive, some parents need a teaching certificate, elsewhere there are hardly any rules.

Who should standardize homeschooling?

If we see that the numbers continue to increase and the cantons express problems, the conference of education directors under President Silvia Steiner must take up the issue.

In Switzerland it is not possible to set national requirements for schools because the level of education lies with the cantons. Why should there be an exception when it comes to homeschooling?

This is not about exceptions, but about an area in which it makes sense to have cross-cantonal regulations. There are also national requirements, for example regarding the length of primary school or the compulsory nature of kindergarten. Personally, I think that the rules for homeschooling must be strictly adhered to.

Why do you think it is important to be strong here?

I think it’s right to align ourselves with the current curriculum and to guarantee the children opportunities to continue with school at all times. Because if homeschooling fails, the schools that are supposed to get everything back on track will once again be held responsible. From this point of view, I am in favor of restrictive measures and relatively strict rules regarding the requirements for parents who want to teach their children themselves.

Could the trend towards homeschooling be a reflection of the fact that primary schools are becoming more and more of a burden for many children?

There are indeed children who are lost in the great heterogeneity of a class that is common today. Especially now, when there are many untrained teachers in front of the classes and there are frequent changes, this can be stressful for children. And there are certainly cases in which homeschooling is the right measure, at least temporarily. But I notice that parents sometimes no longer trust their children to get through or endure something. And I’m not talking about bullying, attacks or stressful school situations, which undoubtedly exist and which of course have to be dealt with differently.

Do you also think that parents too often take on the “ordinary challenges” for their children?

Yes, children grow when they learn to overcome difficulties. In a class they encounter different cultures and ways of life, they clash within their peer group, make friends and build relationships. You learn how to deal with other views. I am convinced that anyone who teaches children at home largely deprives them of these opportunities.

Homeschoolers would disagree and say: Social learning is also possible at home.

Of course, children also learn in relationships with siblings, family and neighbors. But homeschoolers still mainly stay to themselves. Even if their parents deny their deaths, homeschoolers are still somewhat isolated from the community. At some point the children have to go out into life and probably meet completely different people, for example at work. And for me this topic is also about equal opportunities.

Because not everyone can afford homeschooling?

Yes, homeschooling is a middle-class phenomenon. Many families rely on both parents working. Often it is mothers who stay at home and teach their children at home. I think it would be a bad sign if in the end only those children who have no other options go to public school. That would be a massive weakening of the primary school.

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Nina Fargahi is a domestic journalist at Tamedia. She coordinated the department’s reporting one week per month as a duty editor.More info@nfargahi

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topicnews · October 11, 2024

Dagmar Rösler on homeschooling and equal opportunities

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