Press release from the AQED board concerning the COVID-19 crisis

In this crisis situation caused by Covid-19, AQED reiterates that it is fundamental to prioritize the best interests of the child, and by extension, of their family. This implies maintaining the well-being and the physical and moral security of all family members. While some families are able to provide a more or less customary setting for their children to continue their learning, others are currently living in stressful conditions, linked to financial anxiety, school suspension experienced by other siblings, or the impact of limited access to certain resources essential to their learning project. 

AQED expected that the DEM, in fairness, would suspend the monitoring requirements for a period of time equivalent to school closures. However, it appears that this is not the direction that the DEM will be taking in the coming days. 

AQED therefore invites you to inform your DEM contact person as soon as possible of the impact that the crisis situation is having on your family education practice and the difficulties, if any, that it implies for the continuation of your learning project. If necessary, the volunteer support team is there to help you find common ground with your contact person. At the same time, the AQED team continues its discussions with DEM’s leadership to emphasize the fact that the lack of clear guidelines contributes to anxiety among homeschooling families and is working to ensure that the contact persons remain understanding and open-minded during the current period.  

As far as the rest of the population is concerned, all families are in “forced” homeschooling even if it is very different from the family-based learning we are used to. This gives us the opportunity to promote family learning, sharing our resources and acting as a mentor for families who are interested. This is also a mission that we will continue to pursue in the coming weeks. 

– The AQED Board