French homeschoolers can breathe a sigh of relief. Earlier last week, the sponsor of Amendments 127 & 128, legislation that would have effectively outlawed homeschooling in France, withdrew the restrictive proposals from consideration by the French parliament. Apparently, the French Minister of the Family, Philippe Bas, spoke out against several parts of the bill, including the sections pertaining to home education. Quoting from a message sent by HSLDA:
He [Minister Bas] specifically opposed the sections regulating and essentially prohibiting homeschooling, saying in the French parliament: “As they are, I am not favorable to these amendments [numbers 127 and 128]. I find them too restrictive … We must allow parents who, for instance, have three young children, a mother who is willing to take care of them and if they have decided to teach them to read-write-count --- if that is their choice of living --- provided that we can verify that the educational job is well done, then that freedom must be preserved.”While I applaud the successful effort to defeat these amendments, I disagree with Minister Bas and his statement that seems to suggest an essential freedom should be preserved only if the citizens exercising that freedom can prove they deserve to keep it. Still, victory is victory. French homeschoolers can still exercise their God-given freedom to educate their children as they see fit. For that I am grateful.
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