O Federal Supreme Court (STF) defined, in a session held last week, that homeschooling in Brazil, or homeschooling, should not be considered a lawful means of education until there is a law that regulates it. According to most ministers, admission of the modality should only happen through regulations issued by the National Congress.
Of the ten voters, only Luís Roberto Barroso, rapporteur for the matter, declared himself in favor of the constitutionalization of homeschooling in the country, considering compulsory school enrollment as a kind of of “paternalism”. However, the proposal received nine votes against on different grounds. For Alexandre de Moraes, the right of parents to care for their children's education must be recognized, as provided for in articles 205 and 227 of the CF.
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Still citing the text of the Constitution, the minister mentioned article 226 which guarantees freedom to establish family planning. However, this must be done in partnership with the State and that Parliament needs to establish attendance control requirements, pedagogical evaluation and socialization, thus avoiding evasion school. The most critical vote on homeschooling was given by minister Luiz Fux.
According to him, the Constitution does not provide for the legality of home schooling by establishing general rules that do not cover this modality. In addition, the minister considers home education as one of the ways to cover up abuse and violence, as well as moral hardening. As a basis for his vote, Fux mentioned his experience as a prosecutor during which he had contact with oppressive families.
In his speech, he commented that “24.1% of children's aggressors are their parents or stepfathers”. The minister also mentioned Rita Hipólito, from the United Nations Development Program, stressing the role of the educator as an intervener in the cycle of violence against minors. Another argument used by Luiz Fux was school coexistence, something that theoretically would be prevented in homeschooling situations.
The whole discussion about the regulation of homeschooling comes from Extraordinary Appeal 888815 whose origin refers to the writ of mandamus filed by a family from Rio Grande do Sul in 2016. The parents of a girl appealed to the refusal of the municipal authorities to educate the child at home. After arriving at the state level, the family had been instructed to enroll their daughter in the regular school system.
Until the STF session, homeschooling in Brazil was not prohibited, but it encountered obstacles in three texts – Federal Constitution, Statute of Children and Adolescents, in addition to the Penal Code. The first establishes that education is the role of the public power. The latter, in turn, provides for punishment for parents who adhere to the system for intellectual abandonment under penalty of a fine or detention of up to one month.
Despite the contrary waves, the National Association of Home Education (Aned) points out that 7 thousand families have adopted homeschooling as a way of teaching their children. Around the world, more than 60 countries provide legal support to the educational model, with the United States being the biggest supporter. In Brazil, the Proposal for Amendment to the Constitution 444, in 2009, went through the Congress, but was shelved in 2015.
