MONTREAL -- Three months away from the end of an atypical school year, where classes had to close and reopen as outbreaks broke out, parents had chosen from the start if they wanted to do homeschooling.

They are 12,750 homeschooling children for the 2020-2021 year, compared to 5,964 children for the previous year and 4,968 children in 2018-2019.

These are the most recent data from the Ministry of Education, which oversees the Department of Home Education, the one in charge of the educational model since 2017.

Home education is gaining more and more followers. Although still marginal - barely 1 per cent of students in Quebec - nearly 7,000 more parents opted for this mode of education for the current school year, compared to the last year.

Several reasons motivated their choice, in particular the fear of the virus and the search for a form of stability in this very particular year.

MANY REASONS TO SWITCH

Audrey Forand, who lives with her spouse and their two children in Saint-Hippolyte in the Laurentians, wanted to keep her family safe.

"It was really COVID that led me to make this decision," she said. "I always found homeschooling interesting, but it was going well in school, and then I was working. It was not in my plans to change. But with COVID, I found it disturbing to send him to school. I was like, 'She's just in grade two, maybe she's going to have to wear a mask. Am I going to stress all year round? Just washing your hands is hard for a whole class.'"

She, therefore, opted for home education for her daughter. Forand gives most of the lessons and her spouse takes over for the English lessons.

In the current context, home education is easier and causes "less stress for the whole family."

Her daughter appreciates the formula.

"It's more relaxing, '' said the young student who sees her class hours compressed into two hours instead of whole days as would be the case at school.

However, Ms. Forand plans to return her daughter to the school system next September.

For Ketsia Lefebvre, who had already considered homeschooling, the pandemic rushed her decision when she first hired a teacher last spring to give her children remedial lessons to prevent the delay from widening their time away from the books.

The choice is now final, at least for her boy; he will continue his school career at home.

She cites her son's progress to justify her decision.

He has "made a giant leap" since receiving the support of a tutor who gives him lessons in small groups, the mother said.

So much so that she is considering this option for her daughter who is preparing for high school next year.

Simon Roche heads School Services. He notices that "a lot of parents" have used his tutoring company to find a full-time teacher for their child, compared to the pre-pandemic period.

He points out that many made this choice because they were afraid of COVID-19.

"There is a lot of fear," he said. "There are also many who find that the education system has certain shortcomings. By having a teacher at home, sometimes it goes faster, it's faster."

Quebec Association for Home Education (AQED) president Marine Dumont indicated that the interest in home education can be explained in several ways.

According to her, "people also realized that it was not only doable, but also the fun of homeschooling" after getting a taste of it when schools closed last spring.

EDUCATION SUMMIT

Minister of Education Jean-François Roberge confirmed Thursday that a summit on educational success will be held on March 31 and April 1.

This virtual meeting follows a long-standing request from Liberal MNA Marwah Rizqy.

Three main themes will be addressed: educational success and catching up, psychological assessment and supervision, as well as mental health and well-being at school.

The event will particularly address academic success in times of pandemic and is an opportunity to study possible solutions to plan the future of education beyond this context.

-- this report by The Canadian Press was first published March 14, 2021.