Would you go to school if you could study the whole syllabus at home and then score top marks as a privatte candidate in the exams?

Think about it. You get up on Monday morning and it's raining outside and all your friends are putting on their uniforms, raincoats and grumpy faces and waiting in the storm for the bus; but you just walk five paces from your bed to the desk in your underwear and hey, your school week has begun.

No uniforms, no fixed recess time, no lining up, no assembly, no 'Please, may I go to the toilet, sir?', no bullies to make you feel suicidal, no exams, no report card, no nothing!

On the downside, there's no football, no excursions, no sports day, no cheering, no chance to develop espirit de corpse, nobody to point out that you have misspelt espirit de corps, nobody to copy homework from (this is important) and nobody to gossip about.

'Homeschooling' is the name for this DIY teaching system, and it's gaining popularity in many countries.

Some parents rightly opt for homeschooling because they believe schools can't cater for children with special learning difficulties (Kisd wih aer dyslexic, fro exmpael).

Others homeschool thier kids because they think modern schools teach the wrong ideas, like evolution.

"Evolution?!?! Are the schools crazy? We all know the Earth suddenly appeared 10,000 years ago..."

The biggest problem with homeschooling - who will do the teaching?

Mum and Dad?

Sorry, but most mums and dads today would fail miserably if they tried to sit for their children's exams (And yet they'll scold their kids for not scoring top marks).

The other problem, of course, is that parents don't have the time - they are usually out working all day so that their children can get the best education possible and get a good job. After which their children will work hard all day to make sure THEIR children will get a good education etc etc, which for many people, is obviously what life is about.

With both parents at work, the only adult left at home is usually the maid.

Unfortunately, maids are nto cut out to teach, except maybe foreign languages, but I don't think Tagalog, Javanese and Sinhalese would be of much academic value in junior college.

This is where home tuition comes in. If you're rich, you can hire a platoon of tutors for your child. But if you're not, you can always get a group of homeschoolers to share these tutors.

Indeedn, many such share groups have sprung up, to the extent where they have had to hire community halls to conduct classes. Some have even been known to organise extra curricular activities such as excursions so that their chldren get a break from their studies.

Many now have their own homeschool 'terms' with 'school holidays' catered for.

What next?

Well, I suppose it will only be a matter of time till students start wearing uniforms, just to let others know that they are in homeschool, not any ordinary school.

Then, as schools grow, they'll be having assemblies I suppose, just to reinforce their values; issuing report cards, just to let others know that homeschooling can produce good results.

Of course there will always be a few black sheep who are not focused on their studies so some disciplining will be in order. And students caught bullying may have to be expelled. Which means they will have to finish their studies at home...

Welcome back to school!