Homeschooling getting popular in India

MUMBAI: The inspirational story of Malvika Joshi, the 17-yearold girl, who was accepted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US, has brought to light the

MUMBAI: The inspirational story of Malvika Joshi, the 17-yearold girl, who was accepted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US, has brought to light the small but steadily growing club of Indian parents in urban areas who prefer ‘homeschooling’ over formal schools for their kids.

HT Image

Over the past three years, homeschoolers in the country have organised themselves on an online forum, where they share ideas and discuss the drawbacks of the formal education system. The Indian Association of Homeschoolers describes itself as a non-profit initiative of homeschooling children, parents, guardians and friends.

According to Malvika’s mother Supriya, who is among the founders of the association, at least 1,000 homeschooling parents are part of the association. Its Facebook group has attracted over 2,600 likes so far.

Supriya said the idea of homeschooling Malvika and her younger daughter, Radhika, first came when she taught and designed a learning programme for cancer-affected children while working with an NGO. “While many children dread the school routine, they enjoyed their learning experience. It convinced me that happiness is the most important thing in life,” she said.

“Whenever my daughters complained about things from school, I would ask them ‘Why don’t you leave school?’ They thought I was bluffing them,” she said.

While Supriya agrees that her daughters were enjoying school, they weren’t “learning”. “I dislike the schooling system where students are forced to get up early and study only certain subjects, play only certain sports and meet peers of a certain age. It doesn’t match with the natural cycle of children,” she said, adding, she said her daughters, on the contrary could learn anything, be it marketing or film-making. “They could take up any sports and develop their social skills by meeting people from all age groups,” she said.

Raj, her husband, who was apprehensive of the idea, said, “I told them [his wife and daughters] if they have a plan in place, the girls can leave school. But they bluffed me with an unreal plan,” he said.