Homeschooling in Singapore and the USA: a comparison

Without knowing how common homeschooling is, elsewhere, it is not possible to assess the Singaporean situation, fully. So, how common is homeschooling in the United States?

Well, Dr. Patricia Lines wrote a paper, found on the Discovery Institute site, that estimates that, in 2001-2002 there were up to 1,320,000 homeschooled children in America. The growth rate for the years 1995 to 1998 was noted to be 11 per cent, year on year - so there could be many more such children by now. Even at these figures, however, we can see how rare homeschooling is in Singapore, with its 280 homeschooled children.

As a ratio of population, the homeschooled children in America in 2001 to 2002 constituted about 1 in 227 or so. In Singapore, that figure is 1 in 16,428.

Apparently, 2 to 3 per cent of American children are homeschooled. Virtually none are, in Singapore. From the figures above, one can see that homeschooling is more than 72 times more common in America, than in Singapore.

Singapore has a long way to go before it can honestly speak of a homeschooling trend. If one were to look at the situation, impartially, with a global perspective, one could say, without doubt that there is almost no homeschooling at all happening in Singapore. The freedoms that would make it possible for homeschooling to be common, are not readily given. Until they are, homeschooling will remain a rare, mostly expatriate phenomenon in Singapore.

One big step towards making homeschool more likely for Singapore's children would be changing the name of the government department responsible for it from "Compulsory Education Unit" to virtually anything else. How about "The homeschooling unit" or "The Alternative Education Unit". Such names would inspire greater confidence in the positive intentions of the unit in question. As it is, the very name of the unit says you haven't got much hope of being allowed to homeschool.

I haven't got any figures to hand at this moment, but I would be very surprised if anywhere else in the world could challenge Singapore for the rarity of homeschooling. Singapore is probably "no.1" in not allowing children to homeschool. However, I don't think this is a "no.1" to be proud of. Parental choice is always a good idea in such important matters. You see, the parent is much more likely to know what is best for their children than the state. That appears to have been overlooked along the way.

If any of you are thinking of homeschooling your children in Singapore, I wish you luck. It is not an easy path to get permission. A year and a half into seeking it, we are still being fobbed off.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and four months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and nine months, and Tiarnan, twenty-six months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind, niño, gênio criança, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Homeschooling "on the rise" in Singapore

I was heartened by the headline above in the Straits Times - until, that is, I actually read the article.

Have a guess how many primary school children are actually homeschooling in Singapore? (Including all the expatriates who have the automatic right to homeschool, unlike locals.) Factor into your calculation that the population of Singapore is around 4.6 million people.

Well, the true figure is about 280. That is right, less than 300 children are being homeschooled, in Singapore. Apparently, this almost vanishingly small number is regarded as a trend, by the article writer.

The question is, of course, why are so few Singaporeans being homeschooled? The answer is the same one we have received, so far, to date: permission, while it can be given in theory, is difficult to obtain in practice.

We don't have to go far to come to an understanding why so few people receive permission to homeschool. The official Ministry of Education position is, according to the Straits Times: "...as far as possible, Singaporean children should attend national schools to learn a common set of core values, knowledge and skills". Underlying this seems to be the view that homeschooled children might not share these "core values" - hence getting permission for it, is not easy.

I don't know if our experience of trying to homeschool our son, Ainan, is typical or not. I can only say that it hasn't been easy. I have been trying to get permission for homeschooling for one and a half years. We have got nowhere so far. I have written many, many times to the curiously named "Compulsory Education Unit" that is in charge of homeschooling, but the only replies I have ever received are: "We will revert to you shortly". That is fine, except they never revert at all. Six months will pass - and then I write again, only to receive the same reply: "We will revert to you shortly". Only they don't....this procedure may be repeated ad nauseam.

One day I even called up the executive responsible for answering my mails, who wasn't doing so. She would only say: "I can't give you an answer".

Well, there you are then. No wonder there are only 280 homeschooling children in Singapore. I wonder how many of them are, in fact, the children of expatriates? You see such children don't need permission. What I would like to know is how many Singaporean children have ever been given permission to homeschool? Are there, in fact, any at all? We don't know. We only know that we are still waiting for that famous reply to revert - after one and a half years.

The odd thing about all of this is that anyone who really feels strongly about homeschooling will find that almost any other country of the world would give automatic permission to homeschool, to anyone who sought it. Virtually alone in all the world, is Singapore concerned about a "common set of core values". Most other countries are satisfied to offer a diversity of educational opportunities to their people. They are not scared of diversity.

We will still try to secure homeschooling for our son - and perhaps our other children - in Singapore. We will see if we can make that total 281 or more.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and four months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and nine months, and Tiarnan, twenty-six months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Progress on homeschooling: Singapore.

Yesterday, we met the vice-Principal of Ainan's school, to have a chat about our request to homeschool.

As regular readers will know, we have come to the conclusion that Ainan would be best educated at home - for then the pace and subject matter could better meet his needs.

The VP spoke quietly, smiled frequently and tried to be helpful. He introduced us to the enormity of the administrative task that faced us. For us to stand a chance of being allowed to homeschool, we must submit a detailed plan of everything that would be taught, on a month by month basis, in every subject, for the entire period that we intend to homeschool. If you think about it, that is quite a significant presentation, given the number of subjects, the timescale, and the detailed planning required for each.

There were also requirements to be met in all areas: maths, science, languages, aesthetics and "national education". We are to make it clear that all areas will be met, to their satisfaction.

We would also have to include details of ourselves, as parents and home-teachers - in terms of our own educational background and what we could bring to the homeschooling situation.

So, our proposal would ostensibly be judged on two main issues: the detailed curriculum plan - and the substance, or otherwise, of our own educational background.

It will take some time to get all of this information together in a presentable fashion - and then we would have to wait, while they deliberated. I don't imagine that this is going to be a rapid procedure. Then again there is the little matter that I haven't managed to get a reply, from the "Compulsory Education Unit" (the Government department in charge of homeschooling permission) in seven months, of writing, other than: "We will revert to you shortly".

I will, however, sit down to write a detailed proposal. It may take weeks - but, in Singapore, permission for homeschooling is no trivial matter. It must, it seems, be worked at. So, work at it, I shall.

Here's hoping.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and nine months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and two months, and Tiarnan, nineteen months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)