TORONTO, January 9, 2002 (LSN.ca) – With prodding from government and the burgeoning number of children educated at home, Ontario universities are seriously considering opening their doors to home-schooled students. The Ontario University Registrars Association has asked the Ontario Federation of Teaching Parents ( www.ontariohomeschool.org ), a main Ontario homeschooling association, to take part in a roundtable meeting about admissions at their annual meeting in February. Another factor pushing the province’s universities to consider easing admittance for home-schooled students is that Ontario universities are losing top quality students who have been educated at home to universities in the United States. LifeSite contacted numerous home-schooled families and learned that most opted for US universities with some of the students receiving scholarships to attend.
A report in University Affairs suggests that Ontario universities may become somewhat more willing to welcome home-schooled students because last May the Ontario Ministry of Education advised universities that qualified home-educated students are now eligible to be counted for funding purposes. Moreover, the Ontario government’s 21 Step Action Plan for Education notes at Step 10: Flexibility and Choice in Education that “The government will eliminate the institutional bias against home schooling. The Ministry of Education will facilitate home school parents access to standard tests and other learning tools.”
Covering the story, the National Post reports that in 1979, 2,000 children were educated at home. By 1996, 17,500 students—0.4% of total enrollment—were home-schooled. The most recent figures show the number has risen to 80,000 children. And numerous studies have shown the academic superiority of home-schooling.
Very few home-schooled students have entered Canadian universities (ie. The University of Toronto leads in admitting home-schoolers with having accepted 8 home-schooled students over the past four years).
See the coverage in University Affairs and the National Post: https://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?f=/stories/20020109/1076444.html https://www.ontariohomeschool.org/universityarticle.html