Article 42 of the Irish Constitution
- The State acknowledges that the primary and natural educator of the child is the Family and guarantees to respect the inalienable right and duty of parents to provide, according to their means, for the religious and moral, intellectual, physical and social education of their children.
- Parents shall be free to provide this education in their homes or in private schools or in schools recognised or established by the State.
- The State shall not oblige parents in violation of their conscience and lawful preference to send their children to schools established by the State, or to any particular type of school designated by the State.
- The State shall, however, as guardian of the common good, require in view of actual conditions that the children receive a certain minimum education, moral, intellectual and social.
It is indeed legal to home educate your children in Ireland. Tusla, Ireland’s Child & Family Agency, has a department that is responsible for the registration and assessment of home-educating families. This department is called AEARS ( The Alternative Education Assessment and Registration Service)
When we made our decision to homeschool, we had to fill in the AEARS APPLICATION FORM. We also joined the Home Education Network, where we found a wealth of information. We took our time filling in the form. This is such an important form. It is also the perfect opportunity to really consider what your approach to homeschooling will be. We kept the proposed education plan quite broad as we are well aware that the best-laid plans do not always come to fruition. I read and reread it numerous times, certain that I covered everything. I made a copy of it for our own records, then I sent it by registered post.
When completing the application form, I did not specify a date for our son to finish primary school. This was a deliberate decision, as we hoped he would be able to complete the academic year while in 6th class. Under the home education process, home education can only begin once Tusla has confirmed receipt of a completed and valid application. Until that confirmation is received, if a child is enrolled in school, they are required to remain in attendance.
Once we received confirmation of our valid application form, the next step was to inform, in writing, the secondary school where our son had been offered a space. We also wrote a letter to his primary school principal, informing him of the same. We had been liaising with our son’s school throughout this process; they were aware of our plans and were very supportive. The letter here was merely a formality, but an important one.
And that was the end of the process. From start to finish, it took a couple of months. Despite how it may appear, none of this happened overnight. It was an incredibly emotional journey. We questioned ourselves and our decision many times along the way.
Ultimately, however, we came back to the same conclusion: this is the best decision for our son at this point in his life. That has always been at the heart of every conversation and every decision we have made—doing what is best for him.
Note: This is my experience as a parent of a child who completed primary school, but who was not going to secondary school. Experiences will vary. There is a wealth of advice on the aforementioned HEN website. The Homeschoolers Ireland Facebook group is also very good, and if you know or know of anyone else who homeschools, reach out to them.
