Free to Learn: The Rationale for Legalizing Homeschooling in Albania

• Main Author: Timothy Paul Hagen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sciendo 2011-12-01
• Series: Central European Journal of Public Policy
• Subjects: homeschooling, home, schooling, education, legal, achievement, check, restrain, government, special interests, natural law, parental rights, Albania, Europe
• Online Access: http://www.cejpp.eu/index.php/ojs/article/view/92

In the years following the collapse of communism in 1991, Albania allowed greater freedom in educational choice by abolishing the government monopoly on education and allowing private schools to operate. However, it is only now, two decades after the fall of communism, that Albania is moving towards officially recognizing the most natural and fundamental option for educating its citizens – allowing parents to educate their children at home. By looking at homeschooling from the perspectives of student achievement, individual freedom, and natural rights, this paper will show that it is good and proper for Albania – and all countries worldwide – to legally recognize the natural right of parents to homeschool their children. While homeschooling is the best option for some children, it may not be the best for all children. Homeschooling should be one option alongside public schools, private schools, private tutoring, and distance-learning programs. While this article focuses on homeschooling in Albania, relying on research from North America, it contributes to the wider discussion of homeschooling policy in Europe, where policies range from homeschooling being largely illegal in nations such as Bulgaria and Germany to being freely permitted with minimal regulation in a nation such as the United Kingdom.