Parents and teachers involved in home schools are launching a fight today over Government plans to get tough on the way they operate.

A petition has been launched, which they hope to present to Minister of Education and Development Paula Cox outside the House of Assembly on Friday in a bid to get the issue reassessed.

At a heated meeting at the Peace Lutheran Church in Paget on Friday night, a number of parents and supervisors turned out to hear how the Ministry of Education had proposed to implement a policy which stated that home schools could have no more than four students.

From September this year, any home school with five or more students will have to have a license to operate as a school institution or face prosecution and closure.

But the supervisors claimed the limit on the number of students would make many home schools no longer viable, and would force some schools into asking pupils to leave.

They said they were adamant they did not want to become licensed institutions because that was not what home schooling was about.

And they said parents should have the right to decide how and where their child was educated, so long as a sound education was provided.

Teacher Susan Roberts, who runs her own school of 12 students, said if home schools became licensed, Government would go into their homes and start insisting they be altered to suit school planning law.

And she claimed it was unacceptable for institutional school standards and restrictions to be placed on alternative schooling.

At the meeting, attended by about 100 people involved in the 'School of Tomorrow' curriculum, she said: "We would no longer be a home school, we would be an institutionalised school. That is what we want to avoid. What we are saying is let us get on with what we are doing because our children are getting educated with an excellent, over 30-year-old tried and tested system put together by doctors of education.

"It's producing students who are able to get into university. Our children are progressing and learning.

"Government believes we are not accountable - but we are. We are accountable to the parents and students. If we do not get results, they simply won't come back to us."

Mrs. Roberts said she felt particularly aggrieved because two years ago she and other home school teachers were invited by the Ministry to amend the current policy, which stipulated no more than four students, and to draft a new one.

In the meantime, they were told they could operate outside of the law with more than four students.

They handed their proposed policy to Government in February last year, and were told that although not all of their wishes would be granted, the Ministry still proposed to amend the law to allow larger groups.

Since May of last year, they heard nothing further.

However, in May this year chief education officer Dr. Joseph Christopher informed the supervisors that the policy would remain as before, with a maximum of four students, only now it would be enforced.

Mrs. Roberts said after two years of consultation, the wishes of the home schools had been totally ignored.

She said: "We were asked to come up with a viable policy that would work in everyone's favour.

"We thought we had done that. No one has come to us during the last year and said otherwise. No one has said we needed to discuss it again."

Mrs. Roberts said she had urged the Ministry to follow British legislation on home schooling, which gave parents and home schools more freedom to operate how they saw fit.

British legislation states that parents are responsible for ensuring their children are properly educated, and states that while education is compulsory, school attendance is not.

She said supervisors agreed with the stipulation that home schools be required to assess their children in a manner acceptable to the Ministry, and inform the Ministry of the results.

But Mrs. Roberts said they already did that, with greater success than the public system. She said students in the Schools of Tomorrow curriculum were not allowed to move on with subjects until they had successfully mastered the foundations first.

She received applause after she said: "From the public system, I have not known a 14-year-old who knew what a noun or a verb was. Spelling is an atrocity, and reading and comprehension, while being a little improved, is still not up to age standards. That is because they continually move them on regardless.

"We feel the Government system needs to be cleaned up, and that they really need to leave us alone."

At the meeting a number of parents and supervisors rose to their feet to explain why they had taken their children out of private or public education and opted for home schooling.

Nobody had anything good to say about the public system, and claimed that it simply did not work for all students.

They all said their children had flourished since attending a home school.

Deborah Nelson-Stovell said she took her 14-year-old son out of public education after he began to fall drastically behind and teachers failed to help him.

She said he had gone from being an 'E' student in public education to an 'A' student in home school.

And she criticised some of the teachers in the public system.

She said: "My son is male and black, and, in this country, in many ways, that means wall. The public schools are not designed for boys. That is why we must protect home schools."

And father Carlton Crockwell said he had, at first, been a sceptic of home schooling, believing the myth that it was only for troublesome children.

But that was, he said, until his own children went there.

He said: "I stand here as one of those critics to say that I believe home schooling is for today. I'm not one to get up in the public and say lets fight this, and I'm not looking for political points, but this is about principles.

"The supervisors here are just a small group of people, but we are a big group of people and we have an awful lot of power.

"We put them (Government) in and if they want to stay in, someone has to come along with us. If they want our vote then someone is going to have to stand up for our cause."

Government released a statement yesterday that stated it was committed to ensuring all students received a quality education in a "wholesome and safe environment".

It said: "It is still our view that where more than four students are being taught in a home, that facility must meet all the health, planning and fire safety regulations required by law.

"While we respect a parent's right to make decisions about the education of their children, the Ministry must also ensure that the learning environment is safe and suitable.

"The Ministry accepts an individual parents' right to determine the curriculum for their child. However, when a person is providing service to the public, we consider it appropriate for them to be regulated more closely."

Everyone involved in home schooling is invited to attend a second meeting at the same venue at 6 p.m this coming Friday.