Introduction

With the onset of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) that led the global society to isolate
itself and practice social distancing, home-schooling has gained immense popularity among
students and parents alike (Pieh, et al., 2021). This was partly influenced by the shift of
educational institutions from a physical-presence learning model to an online-only framework
that enabled students to learn and take classes from their residences to respect the social
distancing laid out by their respective governments. Proponents of home-schooling argue that
it should replace schools due to two reasons, including the focus on knowledge during
learning instead of grades which leads to many children learning and forgetting what they
studied once their exams are completed, and secondly, the individual attention that a child
receives instead of being forced to share the same with several other students in a school
which causes the weaker students in the class to be largely ignored while the strong
performers are appreciated and supported.

Supporting argument #1

Firstly, in a public or private school, one teacher is responsible for handling 30-40 students.
This may be a commercially viable way for the institutions to sustain their business model,
but it causes the attention devoted by the teacher per student to reduce dramatically. Not all
students learn at an even pace; some of them are quick to learn new concepts while some
others may need more time and individualized attention. In such cases, the teachers are only
responsible for maintaining the class average score, which may not represent the performance
of the weakest students (Ice & Hoover-Dempsey, 2011). Moreover, some students are shy
and quiet, so they may not ask their questions in front of everyone else. Those two concepts
when coupled lead to learning environments that only benefit some students while
disregarding others. Home-schooling eliminates this problem by ensuring that every student
receives individualized attention from their parent or a qualified tutor who is committed to
helping that student succeed in their academics (Barwegen, et al., 2004). Because of the one-
on-one interaction, the tutor can determine the pain points in learning for the student and
address them more accurately. This could increase the chances of the pupil receiving well-
rounded education and guidance that would help them in the future.

Counter-argument #1

However, this may not necessarily be true. Many schools and educational institutions now
rely on smaller batches to help students receive more individualized attention from their
teachers (Havlik, et al., 2020). Because of a fewer number of students, the schools now focus
on quality more than quantity. Additionally, teachers who are hired in schools have the
professional and educational qualifications to teach multiple students at once through
effective frameworks and practices. Unlike the tutors or parents of home-schooled children
who may not be qualified to teach their children, school teachers are experienced in what they
do. Additionally, schools have many kinds of technologies such as recorded lectures, online
learning portals, quizzes, and feedback that can make up for the lack of personal
individualized attention that they receive. Those features are not available to home-schooled
children, so this can perhaps affect their overall educational experience. In other words,
home-schooled children cannot take advantage of the technology that school-going children
have access to.

Refutation #1

Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that the parents are far more connected to their children’s
success and hence are more likely to be far more dedicated than a teacher at any school. Even
if schools do have smaller batches, the teachers still are not individually concerned about the
success and failure of every student. Being working professionals like any other, they are
more likely to do only the bare minimum to keep their jobs, which does not guarantee an
optimum learning experience for the children. Even if the schools provide them with the
latest technologies, there is no certainty that the teachers will use them to their fullest.
Eventually, the difference can be seen with regard to the overall level of interest that the
educator would have in the pupils; school teachers know that if some students do not score
well, there are other students who can do better and lift their class performance up. In the
case of home-schooling tutors or the children’s parents, they know that their complete
performance depends on the results of the child or children they are overseeing and teaching
or guiding.

Supporting argument #2

Secondly, the concept of learning is different in case of the home-schooling as opposed to

those studying in schools. Schools may either be non-profit or for-profit educational
institutions that focus on increasing their reputation, so they can recruit more students and
increase their collections from students in fees and donations (Cairns, 2021). Since schools
have limited resources (cash, manpower, etc.), they want to maximize the returns on their
investments by earning as much as they can from new admissions and continuation of the
existing students across semesters. However, this may not necessarily coincide with the
objectives of helping the students increase their knowledge overall instead of merely focusing
on their report cards.

For this, they are more likely to focus on the materialistic output or the tangible results of
students which is in the form of their grades. Schools often glorify students who secure high
marks while forgetting those who do not. As a result, this means that students are forced or
encouraged to study and learn only for securing high grades and not for the sake of learning
or acquiring knowledge itself.

Furthermore, it can be also the case that those students who learn for grades may forget what
they have studied as soon as their exams are over. Because they are not concerned about
knowledge, retention is not their priority (Ståhlkrantz & Rapp, 2022).

Teachers at schools may also be more inclined to teach students only what is in the syllabus;
they may even be discouraged from asking questions on subjects or content that is outside
their exam portions. This stops them from growing creatively and may affect their overall
intellectual development.

Counter-argument #2

However, not always do schools neglect knowledge. Modern study plans and curricula are
developed to keep in mind the knowledge and learning requirements of students (Mason &
Rich, 2019). They are not just interested in rote learning, but rather the application of the
concepts. Schools now also have an adequate level of practical concepts; schools in the UAE,
for instance, are focused on teaching skills like programming or coding that can be useful to
the students’ careers and is not something that loses relevance when they graduate. Children
in schools now are therefore being prepared to face the future world challenges through skills
and knowledge that are practically useful for their careers. Thus, the concept of schools only
focusing on grades and/or academic results is not completely justified.

Refutation #2

With that said, it is still clear that schools are far too focused on only making students score
the highest they can in their examinations. This causes the students, no matter how bright or
intelligent, to think that the final outcome is their grades or marks. Even in the case of
programming or coding courses where the knowledge is applicable in the real world and not
just for the examinations, students are still encouraged to code or program to help score
higher grades. They are not necessarily motivated to code or program to help solve real
problems in the world.

Schools, therefore, can severely limit the level of interest that students may have in facing
problems outside their academics. As they grow up and join the universities, their perception
or thinking may have been stunted by the level of close-minded teaching they have acquired
across the years of their school education.

Conversely, home-schooled students do not have such limitations, and in most cases, the
parent or tutor’s aim is to help and support their overall development without limiting them to
their scores or grades.

Conclusion

To conclude, home-schooling may replace schools in terms of learning and education in the
near future. Schools are educational institutions that may have done decently at educating
students, but they have their limitations. Since most educational institutions have a single
teacher educating and managing many students, the overall attention they can dedicate per
student is dramatically reduced. As a result, some students manage to perform well and are
highly regarded by the teachers while those that fail to make the mark are treated as
unimportant and are largely ignored. Moreover, students who study at schools are mostly
misguided into thinking that their grades are the most important factor in their academic
careers which leads to their overall knowledge growth being stunted. Therefore, under those
conditions, even relatively bright students fail to think creatively or beyond their study
curricula. Due to those given reasons, home-schooling may be a better alternative than
traditional schools and hence make replace them soon.

References
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