The number of children being home educated in the UK rose by 75 per cent in the first eight months of the school year, according to recent research by the BBC.
The Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) believes there are around 75,000 home educated children in England while research from home educating charity Education Otherwise (EO) puts the figure at 83,960.
It is thought that the rise in the number of children being educated from home has risen in response to the pandemic. However, EO figures show this is now plateauing and predicts it is likely to fall.
Following a recent Education Committee Inquiry which examined the need for ‘accountability’ and ‘monitoring’ of families who notify the local council that they are removing their child from the school register, education secretary Gavin Williamson said that he would create a register of home educated children. He said its introduction would be ‘imminent’.
However, home education specialist and senior lecturer in early childhood at Liverpool Hope University Dr Harriett Pattison warns that a register could ‘stigmatise’ children and parents. Mr Williamson said there were no plans for standardisation, inspections or assessment for children who are home educated but Dr Pattison is sceptical.
‘Assessments, inspections and standardisation for home educated children is extremely likely, if not inevitable, despite what Gavin Williamson is promising,’ she said. ‘That’s precisely what those in the home education community are fighting against.
‘But we’re also fighting against compulsory registration. What parents are doing is a legitimate option that sits next to school education in the eyes of the law. The only other compulsory register in the country is for sex offenders. And this new register simply reinforces the stigma attached to home education.’
Dr Pattison added that the claim that home educated children are somehow vulnerable or invisible is groundless. ‘If you have a registration system, you have to have a reason for that registration system to be in place, based on scientific evidence,’ she said.
‘That’s simply not the case with this proposal - it’s simply putting people’s names on a list and criminalising parents who don’t sign up. What Gavin Williamson is proposing will not, in my opinion, change anything for the better.’
Dr Pattison accuses the Inquiry of not engaging with research into home education. ‘Research shows that rates of child abuse are lower amongst home educators and there have been no substantiated cases of radicalization,’ she said.
‘Analysis of the number of Child Protection Plans drawn up by local authorities show that rates of such plans among home educated children are far lower than in the general population.’
A Department for Education spokesperson said, ‘We support parents who want to educate their children at home. However, now more than ever, it is absolutely vital that any decision to home educate is made with the child’s best interests at the forefront of parents’ minds.
‘We remain committed to a registration system for children not in school, which will help local authorities undertake their existing duties and help safeguard all children who are in scope.
‘Further details on the register will be set out in the government response to the consultation, which we will publish in due course.’