Find out what the rules of Home Education will be in Brazil

The federal government announced the rules on the homeschooling. If the bill (PL) is approved, parents and guardians must follow certain criteria. According to the PL, the option for this teaching model must be communicated by parents or guardians. The notice must be made on the virtual platform of the Ministry of Education (MEC).

The student's parents or guardians are responsible for presenting an individual pedagogical plan. It should detail how the classes will be conducted. The ministry's orientation is that the registration be carried out in the system from December to February, preferably.

According to the MEC, the registration must be renewed every year. Also each year, the student's parents or guardians will need to present a pedagogical plan corresponding to the new school year.

Only after analysis will the MEC generate a registration that attests to the option for the modality. The ministry informed that the terms of the registration will be disclosed in its own regulation.

In the document presented, the government highlights that while the virtual platform is not yet available, families are guaranteed the right to exercise home education. The forecast is that the electronic page will be ready within a period of up to 150 days from the publication of the law.

Assessment

The proposal sent to the National Congress requires evaluation of students enrolled in home education. The assessment should take place from the 2nd year of elementary school onwards. It will take place once a year, preferably in October.

The preparation and management of the test will be the responsibility of the MEC. The body will later issue a calendar in which it will inform the date. The test will have a cost. Low-income families may be exempt from payment.

Learning certification, obtained when the student's performance is considered satisfactory, will be based on the syllabus contents referring to the school year corresponding to the student's age, according to the Common National Base Curriculum.

The bill considers the possibility of advancing in courses and grades, pursuant to the provisions of Law No. 9,394, of December 20, 1996.

According to the guidelines of the bill, parents or legal guardians will lose the right to opt for home education in four situations:

• When the student fails for two consecutive years in the annual assessments and recovery tests.
• When the student fails, in three non-consecutive years, in the annual assessments and in the recoveries.
• When the student misses the annual assessment and does not justify his/her absence.
• Until the annual registration on the virtual platform is renewed.

As for living with other children and adolescents, one of the aspects questioned by critics of modality of home schooling, the government points out that it is the duty of parents or legal guardians secure it.

The PL also establishes that it will be up to them to monitor, on a permanent basis, the student's development, following the national curricular guidelines.