Homeschooling Showdown in Brazil: Children to be Tested by Court in Battle Over Educational Rights of Parents

Article By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman
August 18th 2008

Two homeschooled children face a battery of tests this week in a showdown between the Brazilian government and a Christian family over the educational rights of parents in the South American nation. The children of Cleber and Bernadeth Nunes have already passed the entrance exams for law school at the ages of 13 and 14, but that doesn't satisfy the Brazilian government, which has been trying to force them into its troubled school system since 2006.

After over a year of battling authorities for the right to home school their children, the Nunes' two prodigies will be tested on a variety of subjects to prove that their parents are not guilty of "intellectual abandonment", a legal term that indicates that one has not fulfilled the obligation of providing for the education of one's children.

The tests will include a wide array of subjects, including mathematics, Portuguese, science, history, English, geography, arts, and physical education. The family has been preparing their children for the test for over a month, and the Brazilian media is covering the case. The outcome could determine the future of homeschooling for countless families who are currently forced to homeschool their children secretly, or submit to the public education system.

Cleber Nunes believes that his children will pass their tests. He hopes that a victory in his family's case will legitimize homeschooling and pave the way for pro-homeschooling legislation that is currently under consideration in the Brazilian National Congress.

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Related reading: HS in Brazilian Congress

Fingers crossed Brasil that you get given back the right to home school YOUR children!