SDG 4: Quality Education | SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
Institutions: Ministry of Education | NCERT
A new UNESCO article (2025) highlights that while homeschooling can meet diverse learner needs, it is not automatically a guarantee of quality or equity. Framed through a human rights lens, the analysis stresses that education must remain available, accessible, acceptable, and adaptable — as required under international law. Regulation of homeschooling varies widely across countries, from strict registration and inspection systems to minimal oversight, creating gaps in accountability and comparability.
The report warns that without transparent frameworks, homeschooling could limit children’s exposure to diverse perspectives, critical thinking, and civic engagement. It calls on states to strengthen legal clarity, oversight capacity, and parental support while consulting stakeholders and promoting evidence-based policymaking.
For India, where homeschooling exists in a grey zone outside the Right to Education Act (2009), the UNESCO findings underscore the need for a clearer policy approach. With the NEP 2020 opening pathways for flexible and alternative schooling, India faces a choice: whether to formally regulate homeschooling within a rights-based framework, ensuring both quality and inclusivity.
What is homeschooling? → A parent-directed, home-based form of education, distinct from virtual or private schooling, where caregivers assume primary responsibility for curriculum and instruction.
Aligning India’s flexible learning models with UNESCO’s human rights framework could strengthen NEP 2020 implementation, ensure equitable quality assurance, and expand recognition for diverse learners.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders:
Should India formally regulate homeschooling to balance parental autonomy with children’s right to inclusive, equitable, and socially engaging education?
Follow the full news here: UNESCO Article