Having regard to the rights of the family enshrined in Article 42 of the Irish Constitution and
with reference to Article 29 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, we in
the Home Education Network make the following demands:
Recognition
That home education be accepted as an integral part of the education system, by according
the family its rightful status as the primary natural educator of the child.
That home education issues be removed from the Education (Welfare) Bill, which primarily
deals with truancy, and included in the 1998 Education Act by means of an Amendment.
Support
As an integral part of the Irish education system, all home educators should be entitled to
support, which includes:
• Financial support for books and materials
• Relevant Social Welfare and educational entitlements
• Access to resources and facilities
• Promotion and provision of information on home education to the general public.
Autonomy
In keeping with the nature and principles of home education, the right of the family as
principal educator to prescribe the content, method, and means of assessment of the
education being provided must be recognised. The Education (Welfare) Bill constitutes an ill-
informed and inappropriate control on the right of the family to educate their children in the
home. The Bill is due to be debated in the Dail on 5 October 1999. Please raise this matter
with your local TD.
If you agree with our demands, we in the Home Education Network are asking you to print
and sign this page and send it to your local TD.
I _________________________ agree with the demands of the Home Education Network
as outlined above.
To:_________________________________________ T.D.
Leinster House,
Kildare St.,
Dublin 2
"Home education gives us a view of education which, in many respects, is markedly different
from what is on offer in school. What they have learned from their pioneering experiences
has the potential to bring about the most fundamental change in education since the advent
of universal schooling in the nineteenth century."
Alan Thomas, "Educating Children at Home", a 1998 study of 100 families in Australia and
the UK.