Home-school lesson is that parents are the ‘masters’ of their children

The recent case of a mother, Monica O’Connor, being jailed has higlighted the flaws in home-schooling legislation.

Supporters of the law — and of the jailing of this mother — state that “in every area of public service run by the State there are calls for regular and thorough systems of regulation” and that, therefore, the O’Connor-O’Neill family was wrong to refuse to submit to home-schooling regulations.

Article 42 of Bunreacht na hÉireann safeguards the right of parents to choose a school with an ethos they support, or, alternatively, to homeschool.