Dear mr Vernor Muñoz

I write to you in an alarming issue. The Swedish government is making a new school law, and in the proposal of the law we can see that the right to homeschool would be harshly limited.

The present school law admits the right to homeschool, but still many municipalities refuse to admit that right, and many homeschooling families struggle hard for theirright to homeschool already. If the proposed school law is implemented, homeschooling will only be admitted if "very special circumstances exist". This would mean that it will be as bad as impossible to homeschool in Sweden. Today, Sweden only has about 100 homeschooling families, even though it is permitted. With the new proposal there will be (almost) none. We are really concerned about this, and fear that the german situation for home-schoolers will be a reality for us as well. We fear that Swedish homeschooling families will be forced to send their children to school, most unwillingly, or leave the country, as some have already done.Is there anything you can do to help us?

I have read this:

IMPLEMENTATION OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION 60/251
OF 15 MARCH 2006 ENTITLED “HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL”
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to education, Vernor Muñoz
A/HRC/4/29/Add.3

and I have seen your criticism towards the German state.

With strong hope for your help

Jenny Lantz
Rohus, The Swedish Association For Home Education, 

Excerpt from:
IMPLEMENTATION OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION 60/251

OF 15 MARCH 2006 ENTITLED “HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL”Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to education, Vernor Muñoz

A/HRC/4/29/Add.3
page 16
62. According to reports received, it is possible that, in some Länder, education is understood exclusively to mean school attendance. Even though the Special Rapporteur is a strong advocate of public, free and compulsory education, it should be noted that education may not be reduced to mere school attendance and that educational processes should be strengthened to ensure that they always and primarily serve the best interests of the child. Distance learning methods and home schooling represent valid options which could be developed in certain circumstances, bearing in mind that parents have the right to choose the appropriate type of education for their children, as stipulated in article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The promotion and development of a system of public, government-funded education should not entail the suppression of forms of education that do not require attendance at a school. In this context, the Special Rapporteur received complaints about threats to withdraw the parental rights of parents who chose home-schooling methods for their children (---)
91. The Special Rapporteur recommends to the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany: (---)
93. It is also recommended:
(a) That arrangements be set in place to improve the compilation and processing of complaints relating to violations of the right to education of refugees, refugee applicants and asylum-seekers, and also of persons who do not have a legal immigration status;
(b) That consideration be given to the possibility of ratifying the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities;
(c) That Federal law and state law be reformed so as to ensure that they strengthen the obligation of the educational authorities to provide education to persons with disabilities;
(d) That efforts be made to promote the inclusion of schoolchildren with disabilities in the ordinary education system;
(e) That more persons with disabilities be trained as teachers;
(f) That, as a matter of urgency, a national inventory be compiled of the accessibility conditions of school buildings and plans drawn up for their reconstruction, so as to facilitate access by persons with disabilities;
(g) That the necessary measures should be adopted to ensure that the home schooling system is properly supervised by the State, thereby upholding the right of parents to employ this form of education when necessary and appropriate, bearing in mind the best interests of the child;
(h) That the level of implementation of the first phase of the World Human Rights Education Programme should be appraised, in accordance with General Assembly resolutions 59/113 A and B.

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