Parents in Spain Prepared to Defy Back to School Order

The families contesting the status quo say Spain's constitution gives them freedom to keep their children away from school. But there is neither a legal umbrella for homeschooling, nor is there a system that sets standards for studying at home.

The situation is similar in Germany, where homeschooling is illegal, although there has been enthusiasm there about the return to schools, and in Britain, where very high attendance rates followed last week's reopening. The British government has pledged to only fine parents not sending their children back as a “last resort”.

Even in European countries where homeschooling is allowed, the practice is not as widespread as in the United States. A longstanding distance learning system for all ages exists in France but parents can also choose to privately educate their children.

French education authorities say it’s too early in the academic year to identify if the coronavirus is driving a homeschooling trend.

In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has warned of a “risk of social exclusion for not returning to school".

And although he said there is “no such thing as zero risk", he said both students and teachers "will be much safer in educational centers than in other places".

His education minister, Isabel Celaá, has acknowledged that a number of students will miss the return to school for medical reasons.

But stressing the existing punishment for absenteeism, she said last week that in-school learning “cannot be replaced by homeschooling”.

Irene Briones, a law professor at Madrid’s Complutense University, said that "if truancy numbers increase massively, nothing will happen" because “it’s not in the government’s interest” to go against large numbers of parents.

When Spain went into a strict three-month lockdown last spring, millions of students were forced to finish school from home and parents suddenly became teachers.

Online classes helped a great deal and set the path towards a new way of learning in Covid-19 times, families said.

The demand now is that online education becomes standardized with an official digital learning program that will help students keep up with the coursework at least through December, during the first trimester of the academic year.

They also say that laptops and other equipment should be handed out to narrow the technology divide between families.

“We will defend ourselves using all legal tools and arguments” if authorities and families don’t reach an agreement, says Josu Gómez, whose Safe Return to School association has enlisted nearly 1,500 families in three weeks.

A further 250,000 people have signed in two months a Change.org petition to demand safety measures for kids and teachers in classrooms.

But some are ready to face whatever consequences may come. Romero, the mother of two from Valencia, insisted her kids will stay home as long as infection numbers don’t go down.

“If adults can work from home, kids can study from home,” she said. 

(Writer: Sara Puig)

Source: https://apnews.com/c37b274675bbceb77fc1862f167795b9