Irish children to determine fitness of parents to homeschool

"Artillery for the Northern Ireland government's takeover of homeschooling, stockpiled by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), is being set to usurp the power of parents and hand it over to children and the state. If the U.N.-based policy is implemented, government assessors will be directed to obtain the "opinion of the child" in order to determine whether homeschool parents are fit to teach their own."

"The proposed policy grants government agents sweeping power over homeschooling in Northern Ireland," says Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) staff attorney Mike Donnelly, who also serves as the organization's director or international relations. "The policy is a frontal attack on the rights of parents and families to be free from unwarranted and unreasonable government interference and shows how U.N. treaties are a threat to educational freedom everywhere."

"Donnelly warns that the U.N.-crafted policy that's routed to take shape in Northern Ireland is something in which nations abroad should be very concerned. "It reflects a dramatic departure from the policy in the rest of the United Kingdom, where parents enjoy the appropriate freedom to decide whether or not their children will be homeschooled without unreasonable state intrusion," he asserts. "The new policy involves prior and subjective approval of homeschooling, a database to register homeschooled children, and gives school officials the power to question homeschooled children and arbitrarily enter a homeschooler's home."

"The HSLDA attorney reminds homeschoolers of a previous battle against overregulation. "In 2009, homeschoolers in England fought against a similar proposal recommended by the 'Badman Report,'" Donnelly notes. "The current policy being proposed in Northern Ireland appears to have been influenced by similar ideas that the state has the authority to intervene and determine how and whether children should be home-educated."

"HSLDA's online petition, "Hands off Home Education," is designed to defend the freedom of homeschoolers in Northern Ireland by providing a way for homeschool advocates worldwide to sign in their support."

http://www.onenewsnow.com/education/2014/05/31/irish-children-to-determine-whether-parents-are-fit-to-homeschool