Homeschooling is legal according to South African national law, but individual provinces have the authority to set their own restrictions.
Some of the larger provincial departments have limited administrative capabilities to register children for home education as well as a lack of follow up capacity, resulting in a serious miscommunication between government and citizens.
The law pertaining to homeschooling permissions is Article 26 of the Regulatory Decree 572/62,[citation needed] where the home is mentioned as one of the possible ways to ensure compulsory education of children.
[134] A couple, a Brazilian mother and an American father, was investigated in 2010 by the municipal government of Serra Negra, São Paulo, for homeschooling their children.
[137] That same year, a resurgence in the homeschooling movement encouraged congressman Lincoln Portela to introduce a new bill that would allow children to be educated at home if parents followed state approved guidelines.
[143] Article 68 of the Uruguayan Constitution states each parent has the right to choose the teachers or schools relative to their child's education.
[147][148] Despite its legal status, some parents in China opt for home-schooling for reasons including dissatisfaction with the country's test-oriented public schools and a desire to individualize the education of their children.
In India, under Right to education, The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), the Government has established an independent body to look after the system of Home Schooling.
[161] Homeschooling used to be heavily restricted from the misunderstanding of the concerned Area Based Officers because they have worked only for the school in the different rules and regulations for a long time.
[clarification needed] As of 2016, the Homeschooling Network of the Thai Alternative Education Council Association (a Non-Profit Organization) is connecting together around the country to help the parents perform the registration following as National Education Laws and also working together with the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand to protect parents' rights.
In the Republic of Turkey, all children are required to be registered in state or private school so as to be in compliance with the National Education Basic Law (No.
[162] Due to the above legal constraints, Turkish parents face a great deal of difficulty in pursuing homeschooling for their children.
The Schulsprengel ist described by state law for each Dorf, Weiler, Gemeinde, Stadt (city, sector, land, district).
[171] In September 2010 a religious organisation Hrvatska kršćanska koalicija (Croatian Christian Coalition)[172] submitted a proposal[173] to change the law so home education would become legal in Croatia.
The proposed model was chosen as it requires minimal change to the existing law and would be possible to implement within the current educational framework.
[184] Home education is legal in France and requires the child to be registered with two authorities, the 'Inspection Académique' and the local town hall (Mairie).
Every other year, the mayor verifies the reasons the family home educates and confirms that the training provided is consistent with the health of the child.
[198] In a legal case commenced in 2003 at the European Court of Human Rights, a homeschooling parent couple argued on behalf of their children that Germany's compulsory school attendance endangered their children's religious upbringing, promoted teaching inconsistent with their Christian faith–especially the German state's mandates relating to sex education in the schools—and contravened the declaration in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union that "the State shall respect the right of parents to ensure education and teaching is in conformity with their own religious and philosophical convictions".
[200] In April 2013, a decision by a U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals court overruled this and denied the petition for asylum, on the grounds that Germany's law applies to every resident, and does not single out any specific religious group for persecution.
[204] In February 2015, a bill was introduced that would allow up to 500 grants of asylum per fiscal year to families fleeing home school persecution.
[205] In September 2023, during a routine check-in, the Romeikes were informed by the federal government that their status as legal residents of the United States was being revoked, and that they were required to return to Germany.
[207] An investigative TV report had documented systematic child abuse in a 100-strong community in Bavaria, including "persistent beatings for the most trivial offences".
they had been brought to a farm belonging to the Twelve Tribes in the Czech Republic to elude intervention by the authorities who would ensure their public schooling.
[218] From 2004 to 2006, 225 children had been officially registered with the Republic of Ireland's National Education Welfare Board, which estimated there may be as many as 1500–2000 more unregistered homeschooled students.
The legal status of the practice draws on the Constitution which states: "It is the duty and right of parents to support, raise and educate their children, even if born out of wedlock.
[227] The municipality is responsible for checking that the homeschooling's curriculum is "equal to" public schooling, but the wording of the law is vague and does not prescribe how this is supposed to be done.
Hence, the newly amended Catalan law can only refer to pupils who have special needs or are for some other reason unable attend school regularly in order that they may have their educational rights met.
Before the law, to receive home education, children had to demonstrate that they cannot visit school due to medical condition or disability.
[252] A report commissioned by the UK government in 2009 found that councils were aware of approximately 20,000 children being homeschooled, but that the true number could be in excess of 80,000.
Parents of Singaporean children who wish to homeschool need to apply to MOE to seek exemption from compulsory education; this requirement is not applicable to expatriates.