Antonín Jančařík, Kateřina Jančaříková, Yvona Kostelecká

West x East (Capitalist x Communist). Cold War - Iron Curtain.

The fall of Berlin Wall. Solidarnosc. Velvet revolution. Yugoslav Wars.

Truth and love must prevail over lies and hatred !

Ideological tool. Served as a tool for unification of individuals during the Communist era. Ideology influenced the content and approach.

Long time process. Changing of Curriculum. Changing of approaches. Changing of atmosphere. All these changes require a time.

Rapid changes in terms of the system are slow from the perspective of parents. Parents who wish the change are looking for a shortcuts. Private - alternative schools, church schools and home education.

There is no common European legislation. In most countries, home schooling is legal. Form and conditions are different. Home education has a long tradition in some countries.

Homeschooling was legal before the rise of Nazism. Homeschooling is not legal in Germany now. Currently, about 300 children are educated at home.

The dispute about home schooling is a dispute about the rights of parents and children. “Obligatory education” x “Obligatory schooling”. In many post-communist countries i s education traditionally very closely connected with schools.

The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, and Slovenia – are linked not only by the geographic proximity but also by similar historical experiences. Habsburg Monarchy. After the breakdown of Austria-Hungary at the end of the WWI all five countries had to build (or restore) their status as independent national states. After the WWII all countries found themselves on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain. All countries experienced period of deep and simultaneous economic, social, and political transformations in the 1990’s.

The legal possibility to educate children at home was set by the Education Act that was adopted by the first post-communist parliament in 1991 Act No. 425/1991.

The country was divided between Nazi Germany and Soviet Union after a military defeat in Polish schools and universities were closed. More than million of young Poles were educated at home during the occupation.

Polish Constitution: „Everybody has the right for education. Education is obligatory till the age of eighteen. The way how the compulsory schooling is fulfilled is regulated by the law“ Education Act from 1991: Obligatory schooling can be fulfilled by „attendance to elementary and secondary school, public and private “. Paragraph 8 of the same article, however, mentions education „out of school“ as other form how obligatory schooling requirement could be fulfilled.

The Education Act of 1993 introduced the status of a “private student” that can be educated individually, out of school. „Every child is obliged to participate in education in the Republic of Hungary, as prescribed by this Act“. „Compulsory education may be completed by school attendance or as a private student, on the basis of the choice of the parents“.

Elementary School Act from Parents have right to choose elementary education for their children either by means of public or private schools or by means of home education.

The Czech Republic is the country with compulsory school attendance that is mentioned by the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms (part of Constitution). Demand for home education started to form at the second half of 1990’s. It was legally possible to educate children at home since September 1 st 1998 “Educational experiment” allowed to children in lower elementary school age.

Education Act of 2004 officially legalized home education for children of the younger elementary school age. “Educational experiment 2007” allowed to children in secondary school age.

The advocates of the home education in Slovakia sought to follow the example of their Czech counterparts. Slovak Ministry refused to organize experiment. Home education was made legal by the new Education Act 2008.

Some parents are forced by circumstances to home education, most of them elect it voluntarily. The reasons are pedagogical and ideological. A remarkable portion of parents trying to use their experience from home education in the school system.

Swedish feminist writ t er on many subjects in the fields of family life, ethics and education. She is best known for her book "The Century of the Child". She was mostly educated at home, where her mother taught her grammar and arithmetic and her foreign born governess taught her foreign languages.