Education crises: is compulsory registration the answer ?

Channel 4 Monday, 04 February 2019 12:10
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"The Children’s Commissioner for England has called for a compulsory home education register and strong measures to tackle ‘off-rolling’."

"In a report, Skipping school: invisible children, Anne Longfield also said there should be more support for families who home educate, a greater oversight of home schooled children and decisive action against unregistered schools..."

"Some children were completely out of sight of the authorities and ‘off the grid’ – with research by the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS)/Dispatches showing 93% of councils say they are not aware of all the children in their area who are home educated. When local authorities offer to visit a home educating family, in 28% of cases the family refuses."

http://www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=38016%3Achildrens-commission-calls-for-compulsory-home-education-register&catid=54&Itemid=22

Of course, one of the reasons for an increase in home education is the failure of many mainstream schools to cope with children with additional support needs. [ASN]

Here is an example from Scotland:

"The presumption to mainstream sees all children taught in mainstream schools unless certain exemptions apply. Currently, more than a quarter of the pupil population in Scotland (28.7 per cent) has ASN, an increase of more than 68 per cent since 2012 (in part due to an increase in awareness and identification). This, however, is against the background of 500 fewer specialist ASN teachers and a reduction in support staff, such as education psychologists and behaviour support staff..."

"A lack of classroom support, driven in part by budgetary cuts, means that many of these vulnerable children and young people are not having their educational and social needs met. This is also putting pressure on fellow pupils and teachers, with many of the latter lacking the necessary training to provide the specialist support required."

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See also Legal framework around home education