School at home: Associations warn of difficulties in obtaining authorization

At the beginning of the school year, not all children attended class. Some of them are homeschooled. According to the latest figures from the Ministry of National Education, in June they numbered 71,700, or about 0.5% of students in France who would benefit from the family education system (IEF). How much is this fall? At the moment, the Ministry does not release the figures, because they are not available “Not yet stabilized”.

The very active associations that defend the IEF have been voicing their concerns for several weeks. It should be noted that the mobilization day is scheduled for September 15. According to them, the consequences of the law of August 24, 2021, which confirms the respect for the principles of the Republic (known as the law “against separatism”), accused the government of numerous refusals.

in this return Some children actually find themselves in a state of uncertainty. Nor did he enroll in a school near their home, because of that, Nor is he allowed to receive instruction at home. Because many families in some academies see their requests denied.

Strong disparities between territories

In the absence of consolidated indicators of the Ministry, the associations provide themselves. Thus, according to a survey conducted by Coordinating for Freedom in Education (Coopli), 68% of parents refused family education for their new child. “Families are contacting us today to find out which academies are paying more than others.” Apologies to Emmanuela (who did not want to be named), of the association Les Enfants d’abord (LEDA), who participated in the study. According to Couple, among the most reluctant rectories would be Toulouse, Grenoble, Dijon, Besançon, Rennes or even Orleans.

A simple declaration was enough before the “against separatism” law was adopted. Families must now justify their request to the rectory. Four reasons are valid: health or disability reasons, the practice of intense sports or artistic activities, family homelessness or geographic distance from school, and finally. “The existence of a situation specific to a child for the motivation of an educational project”.

According to the associations, this last reason causes a lot of rejection, which is the basis of the impossibility of establishing the existence. “own situation”. The Ministry contacted the worldillustrates the meaning of the phenomenon: “On 1^Eh Only 9.6% of the applications were placed in the 4th place in July. » Only half of them, 53%, received a positive answer.