Homeschooling for religious reasons

CAN PARENTS KEEP THEIR OF-AGE CHILD AT HOME FOR RELIGIOUS REASONS AND HOMESCHOOL IT INSTEAD?

Summarized: Due to compulsory school attendance, homeschooling is generally not permitted in Germany. It is possible to send a child to an (Islamic) public school. These are, however, rarely found. 

The fundamental right to freedom of religion, guaranteed in Article 4 (1) and (2) of the German Basic Law, in conjunction with the parental right of upbringing under Article 6 (1) and (2) grants parents the right to teach their children their own convictions in matters of faith and belief and to keep certain views away from them.¹ They can, therefore, defend themselves against state measures that encroach on their personal sphere, which is protected by fundamental rights.²  

This unconditionally granted fundamental right can, however, be permissibly restricted with the equally protected state educational mandate according to Article 7 (1) of the Basic Law. Compulsory schooling serves to enforce this state educational mandate.³ The beginning and the duration of schooling are regulated in the respective regional laws.⁴  

The question now arises as to how one can do justice to both positions. On the one hand, it could be argued that homeschooling does not per se result in poor or inadequate knowledge transfer. It is quite conceivable that parents or other helpers could provide high-quality education at home, without state involvement. If the state's educational mandate were only about the mere imparting of knowledge, homeschooling could, for example, use state-standardized tests to carry out learning checks and, in this way, test the respective level of knowledge. 

But with compulsory schooling, the German state also pursues other goals that could not be achieved by homeschooling. Within the framework of regular school attendance and the everyday experiences, children are to acquire social qualities, among other things, through confrontation with children who think differently, and in this way be raised to become responsible citizens and personalities capable of dialogue. The isolation within a ‘refuge’ created by the parents could considerably disturb the personality development of the child.⁵ This could open the door to the emergence of parallel societies. Young citizens should be integrated into society and into Germany's legal system.⁶ Furthermore, parents have the option to send their child to a public school of their choice. Therefore, despite the existence of various exemptions (special cases or important reasons), exemptions from compulsory schooling on religious grounds are generally not granted on the basis of Article 4 (1) in conjunction with Article 6 (1) and (2) of the Basic Law.⁷ Both the case law⁸ and the literature⁹ regard compulsory schooling as predominantly constitutional.¹⁰

^{2 Federal Constitutional Court, case from 17.12.1975, 1 BvR 63/68, margin 98.}

^{3 Federal Constitutional Court, case from 31.05.2006, 2 BvR 1693/04, margins 9, 16.}

^{4 Thiel in: Grundgesetz-Kommentar (Sachs), 8. Ed. 2018, Art. 7 margin 12.}

^{5 Thurn/Reimer in NVwZ 2008, page 719.} 

^{6 Thiel in: Grundgesetz-Kommentar (Sachs), 8. Ed. 2018, Art. 7 margin 14.} 

^{7 Kokott in Grundgesetz-Kommentar (Sachs), 8th Ed. 2018, Art. 4 margin 77.} 

^{8 Federal Constitutional Court, decision from 05.09.1986, 1 BvR 794/86.}

^{9 Theuersbach, Die Entwicklung des Schulrechts i.d. Jahren 1991 u. 1992, in: NVwZ 1993, page 631 (633); Fetzer, Die Zulässigkeit der Schulpflicht nach Art. 7 I GG, in: RdJB 1993, page 91 (91 ff.) etc.}

^{10 Thiel in: Grundgesetz-Kommentar (Sachs), 8. Ed. 2018, Art. 7 margin 13.}