KAMPALA – Homeschooling is when teaching takes place at home. This practice existed years back and was used mainly by wealthy people. With modernization, the system reduced. Today it is practiced in a limited manner and it involves parents or tutors teaching children from home. The system has many advantages including having attention to a child or a few children at home. One is able to monitor and follow up the learning process of the child. Attention is given to a child and the child’s talents can be discovered and nurtured. A child is able in a home environment to learn things that are chosen by parents. An addition advantage is learning unique things like culture and religion. However, homeschooling has challenges, if the teaching is done by parents, they may not be teachers and as a result, the learning by the children may be constrained. The learning may be by tutors but they may not be able to cover all the subjects. This may, therefore, constrain the learning process too. There are benefits when children learn together in one place. By homeschooling, some of these benefits are lost. Besides, it may be very expensive to teach one or two children. Children, when they come together, are able to build social skills and networks. They also learn from one another.
While those are challenges, the lockdown has boxed us in and therefore parents need to take interest in this to enable them provide necessary support to the children. Parents who are unable to relate to the learning requirements of children should spend money and hire tutors to do it for them but adhere to the Standard Operating Procedures.
Maureen Tweyongyere is the Director, Career & Skills Development Centre Makerere University Business School
