Case Summary

Following the local public school’s closure during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, Regiane Cichelero started homeschooling her 12-year-old son. Once the schools reopened in March 2021, Cichelero made the choice to keep educating him at home, believing it was the best way she could ensure her son receives a high-quality education in accordance with the family’s religious convictions.   

Following her decision to homeschool, Cichelero received a legal challenge from local prosecutors for declining to enroll her son in the local school system. She has been fined in the amount of $300 USD for not registering her son in school, plus an additional per diem fine of $20 USD up to $1,200 USD until she re-enrolls her son with the local school. In addition, the judge in the case initially threatened to remove her son from her custody if she continued to homeschool. 

Over 70,000 children are currently homeschooled in Brazil. International human rights law protects the rights of parents to make choices concerning the type of education that their children receive.  

Article 26.3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that, “parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children”. In addition, Article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights holds that states must respect the right of parents “to choose for their children schools, other than those established by the public authorities, which conform to such minimum educational standards as may be laid down or approved by the State and to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions”.