Homeschooling is legal in Sweden, although you wouldn’t know after reading the HSLDA post about the forcible removal of Dominic Johansson from his parent’s custody after they had boarded their plane, ready for take-off.

The couple had sold all of their belongings and were planning on ministering to the poor in India, as it is Annie Johansson’s home country. Christer and Annie Johansson are both Christians and have been treated abominably said Mats Tunehaga, President of the Swedish Evangelical Alliance.

Annie is qualified to teach at university level, and Christer had been a teacher before, but when they approached the Swedish Ministry of Education, as their son approached compulsory school attendance age, they were informed it was the local principal’s responsibility to assist them with home education and that he would provide materials.However, when they approached the school, they were told by the principal that the law required Dominic to attend school.

Christer Johansson has been in deep despair, and so has his wife, Annie Johansson, who has been taken to the hospital emergency room – again, suffering from severe trauma, and unable to comprehend why their son was taken from them and put into foster care. Why??? – simply because they chose to homeschool him, and even though this is not illegal in Sweden, he has still been forcibly removed from their care.

J. Michael Smith, from the HSLDA has written a letter to the Swedish officials asking why Dominic was removed from the parents’ custody, especially when homeschooling is legal in Sweden. The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights states, in section 26 that, “parents have the prior right to determine what is the appropriate form of education for their children.”

The Johansson’s have always expressed their willingness to cooperate with the authorities, but despite this, their son has been removed from their custody, and the family has been literally torn apart.

The United Nations Conventions on the Rights of a Child, in Article 7 states that, “the child has the right to be cared for by his parents.” Homeschooling in Sweden is legal, but you would never know – the loser’s in this case are the Johanssons, but specifically a little boy called Dominic who has done nothing wrong, but who is being denied his basic human rights.

Leave a Reply