Debate: Home-Schooling Should Be Banned

We Should Ban Home-Schooling

Good evening adjudicator, audience and fellow debaters. I am the first speaker for the affirmative team and tonight we are here to debate on whether home-schooling should be banned or not. In Australia, home-schooling is defined as learning outside of the public or private school environment. As the affirmative team, we strongly believe we should ban, meaning not allow, home-schooling in Australia. I, as the first speaker, will present my arguments on how home-schooling negatively impacts one’s quality of education and the social benefits of going to school. My second speaker will be arguing that home-schooling is not a comprehensive experience and the effects on employment.

Now onto my first point.

Home-schooling has a negative impact on one’s quality of education. Public and private schools have a set curriculum that has been assessed thoroughly over years of careful planning and research. This trusted curriculum is used so that schools can teach their students the appropriate and vital lessons in all areas of education. In schools, we have qualified teachers who are able to use their expertise in the given areas to give students a deeper understanding of what they are learning. However, home-schooled students are not given such a commendable quality of education. Often the case is that home-schooled children are taught by their parents. We cannot be sure as to whether a parent is teaching all subjects in a balanced manner with the right material. There is no set curriculum for the student and the parent may not focus on all subjects thoroughly enough. It is true that there are assessors who come in to check on the child, but the child is only being assessed a few times a year whereas school students are always being assessed throughout the year on not just tests but essays, orals and assignments. How can you be sure that a home-schooled child is at the standard of education as the majority of Australia? School students are assessed much more accurately in on the basis of all kinds of assessments testing the many skills needed for subjects. Although a guide is provided, home-schooling has no mandated curriculum, lacks structure and is barely monitored. All these factors negatively impact one’s education.
Now onto my second point. Home-schooled students are not acquiring the vital social skills taught in schools. One of the main purposes of conventional schooling is to expose children to a social environment. It is true there are out-of-school social clubs too, but schools give opportunities for the student to learn social skills from all dimensions. The Australian website states that it accepts all students and every student is different with their own personality, culture, religious beliefs, ethnic identity, etc. In schools, students have to work in groups or teams and from these activities, students can learn about how to interact with people of different backgrounds. With Australia being one of the most multi-cultural countries of the world, we all need to build our tolerance for every culture and schools highly encourage this. To work with people on a daily basis teaches us how to interact in this vastly globalized world where we must work with people of different personalities to achieve common goals.
In summary, we should ban home-schooling because home-schooled children are not given a complete and balanced education and they do not attain the full spectrum of social skills needed to interact with our ever growing world. For these reasons, the affirmative team strongly believes that home-schooling should be banned.