German Mother of 9 Arrested For Homeschooling

Elvira Block, a mother of 9 children, was arrested on Sunday evening, 17th June, in Paderborn, Germany, for educating her children at home without permission.

She was given a prison sentence of 13 days after she and her husband had refused to pay a financial penalty. According to SchuzH (Schule zu Hause - "School at home" organisation http://www.schuzh. de/cms/index. php?id=2 ) the father of the family already had to serve a prison sentence once before in October 2006. For the last 12 months the children have been taught at an officially recognised Christian School in Heidelberg [note: a distance of over 220 miles].

After spending the weekend together at home, the family were just about to leave to travel to Heidelberg (where the children stay during the week) when the police rang the bell. The policemen allowed the mother to say good-bye to the children and to pray with them. She is said to have prayed "to be a witness in prison for the Lord Jesus ". SchuzH (Schule zu Hause) are also asking for letters of support to be sent to Elvira in prison.

In the German city of Paderborn there are eight Baptist families that
home-educate their children. They are against sex education, evolution theory, as well as esoteric relaxation exercises taught in schools in Germany. Two families have taken their children to Austria where home-education is permitted.

The other families have sent their children to the Christian private school in Heidelberg. More recently, they are planning to open a similar private school near Paderborn. According to SchuzH (Schule zu Hause) there are about 500 to 1000 families in Germany that educate their children at home.

Thanks for your attention.