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http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/s05040143.htm

ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 2126, Garden Grove, CA 92842-2126 USA
Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: danjuma1@aol.com

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

GERMAN AUTHORITIES SEND HOME SCHOOLING MOM TO JAIL
Mounting Pressure on Evangelicals – State Registered School Education Compulsory

By Wolfgang Polzer
Special to ASSIST News Service

GUETERSLOH (ANS) -- Pressure is mounting on Christian home schooling parents in Germany. A mother living near Guetersloh has been sent to jail for six days because she and her husband refuse to send their children to a state registered school. They also refuse to pay fines of US-Dollars 115.

The conservative evangelicals object to sex education and regard religious instruction at school as too liberal. Recently they prevented their children from watching a theatre production of a fairy tale, claiming it was “the work of the devil”. The parents belong to a Baptist church mostly of ethnic German immigrants from Russia.

Home schooling is illegal in Germany. Parents are obliged to send their children to a state registered school. They may not educate their children at home even for reasons of faith or conscience. Local authorities in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia have announced that they will pursue a hard line against home schoolers.

Since October seven parents in Paderborn County refuse to send 15 children to public school for religious and ethical reasons. They have been charged with fines of US-Dollars 190 each. The authorities also threaten to take them to court. They could lose custody over their children.

A Bavarian court in Bayreuth has ruled that Christian parents must send their eight-year-old daughter to a state registered school. The court also confirmed a fine of US-Dollars 8,500 against the parents. They may appeal the court order.

Germany takes a tougher line than other European democracies. France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Switzerland and Austria also require children to receive school education, but they leave the form of education up to the parents. Home schooling lobbyists in Germany challenge what they see as an infringement of parental rights. They consider taking their case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.

Despite the legal requirements about 500 children in Germany are educated by their parents. A Christian home schooling pioneer is Helmut Stuecher of Siegen. He educated his seven children at home from 1980–1997. He also founded the Philadelphia School, which provides learning and teaching materials for home schools. The school is not recognized by the state authorities.

In a letter to the education ministry in North Rhine-Westphalia Stuecher threatened a school boycott by more Christian immigrants from Russia. School authorities had overstepped the mark with their repressive measures.

The governor of Paderborn County, Manfred Mueller, reacted by calling on parents to sever ties with “external advisers”. The Christian Democrat accuses Stuecher of “high treason” and “agitation”. The mainline Protestant Church of Westphalia has also criticized home schoolers and defended religious instruction teachers.

The German Baptist Union has distanced itself from the evangelical parents. The Union emphasizes that their church is not a member of the Baptist Union. At the same time it has offered its services as a mediator. “It is our wish that the frontlines will not harden any further.” The conflict should be resolved in a way, which respects the parents’ faith.
Wolfgang Polzer (54), is senior news editor of the Evangelical News Agency idea, Wetzlar (Germany), which he joined in 1981. His previous work included four years in the editorial department of the Salvation Army in Germany. In all, he has spent 27 years in Christian media. Wolfgang can be contacted by e-mail at: Wolfgang.Polzer@idea.de.
** You may republish this story with proper attribution.