EDUCATION Minister Fayval Williams says the Government will move to develop policy to deal specifically with homeschooling, conceding that there is a gap in the guidance and support provided by the ministry to homeschooling families.

She made the promise on Thursday, as homeschooling families in a strong show of unison, pressed Parliament for exemption from the new legislative framework for the teaching profession, and called for specific new laws to be enacted to guide and support educating children from home.

Several families, as well as the Jamaica Association of Homeschoolers, made the call during last-minute submissions to the joint select committee (JSC) of Parliament which is reviewing the 2021 Jamaica Teaching Council (JTC) Bill.

The JSC, which Williams chairs, had concluded taking submissions weeks ago, but reopened the sitting to accommodate the groups.

The families contended that the JTC Bill does not effectively address homeschooling in any depth, and simply tacks on sections pertaining to the sector without meaningfully considering the extent of, and array of options that exist for effective homeschooling.

They also argued that the education ministry does not provide adequate support for homeschoolers and that, in addition to specific laws, there should be a dedicated unit or team within the ministry to provide this support.

The homeschooling parents said the independent schools unit in the ministry currently focuses on private and independent schools, and that queries emanating from providers of home education are oftentimes given the runaround.

While majority of the JSC members agreed that there would be no compromise on a regulatory framework for homeschooling, at least one Government legislator — Senator Ransford Braham — agreed that there should be specific laws. He asserted that the regulation of home education would be misplaced in the JTC Bill.

“I think that we ought to take a minimalist approach. I don’t think that a Bill that is designed to provide for the professionalisation of teachers should also be used to deal with the regulation of homeschoolers and homeschooling. I would hate to outlaw homeschooling directly, especially if the limited number of persons who are doing homeschooling don’t demonstrate a problem,” he stated.

He suggested that instead, the focus should be on the suitability of persons in the teaching profession who these families sometimes engage to assist with homeschooling — “apart from that, I would leave them alone and develop another Bill to deal with homeschooling”.

Parent of three, Danielle McNish, in an impassioned presentation, argued that “just to tack us on the JTC Bill is not enough. If it is that the nation really wants to take a serious stance and provide a proper foundation and proper support for homeschooling, then it needs to be separate from this teaching Bill. We are not against regulation, we are not against having the State play a part in homeschooling, what we are saying is that the JTC Bill is not it. Based on the definition of an approved home education programme, I would get locked up! If we are to properly treat with home education, it can’t be in this Bill.”

The Bill, which proposes a strict licensing regime and tough fines and penalties for breaches, applies to teachers in the classroom as well as persons who teach in approved home education programmes — including parents who teach their own children at home.

The Murphy family, nine-year homeschoolers, argued that all the approaches to homeschooling should be contemplated. Royena Murphy, meanwhile, urged legislators to remove the provisions related to home education entirely from the Bill, including references to approved home education programmes and requirements of licensing, “because these specific provisions represent an unnecessary intrusion of the Jamaica Teaching Council into homes and the affairs of private family life, as well as being, more likely than not, a detriment to the best interest of scores children and their families in their pursuit of education”.

The Murphys say very often as homeschooling parents they are faced with critique and unresearched statements presented as facts, “Sometimes it feels like swimming upstream,” they noted.