The controversy over home schools, which has been extensively covered in The Royal Gazette this week, raises serious questions about how these institutions should be governed.

The rise in home schooling is part of a worldwide trend, caused in large part by a lack of confidence in public education both in Bermuda and around the world.

In Bermuda, this has been exacerbated by the immense pressure on private schools, most of which have long waiting lists.

Parents often register their children at birth for nursery schools and private primary schools, such is the pressure for places.

At the same time, some parents simply feel that their children function better and learn better in a home school environment where they can get more individual attention and can advance at their own pace.

Some of the best teachers are also opting to start their own home schools for much the same reasons, although the opportunity to actually teach rather than to be a surrogate parent must play a part as well.

Assuming that they are able to reach a satisfactory standard of education, there is surely nothing wrong with this. The most important issue is whether children are learning, and the results produced by many home schools suggest they are.

That does not mean that every home school is perfect, nor that every teacher in a home school is doing a first class job. Sadly, of course, that is also true of more traditional schools.

But just as the Ministry of Education regulates Government and private schools, so it should regulate home schools. The question is how closely they should be monitored and how stringent the rules to which they must adhere should be.

According to the home school teachers, the Ministry wants to limit the number of pupils who can attend home schools to four. If a home school exceeds that number, it must apply to be licensed as an institution.

That seems extreme. A single home school teacher should be able to teach more than four students at a time, especially when teachers in regular schools are teaching any number from 15 to 30 at one time.

That does not mean that home school teachers should have carte blanche to teach as many students as they wish. But a maximum limit of 12 could be imposed without difficulties, assuming the home school has the space and facilities to handle that number.

More importantly, the academic results of the schools must be measured. All home schools must teach a recognised curriculum now, and must submit the results to the Ministry. As an added measure, the home school students could also be required to take the Terra Nova tests that government students take now. If the home school students do not measure up to the Government schools, then the school they attend should be investigated.

What makes very little sense is why the Ministry of Education, having taken the time and trouble to seek input from the home schools, should then change course and revert to the previous policy without any further consultation.

It should be accepted that most home school teachers and parents are dedicated to the children in their care. Why are they being given so little respect?