The names of all home schooled children could be listed on a register, and monitored by local councils, if government proposals are given the go-ahead.
A higher proportion of children are home educated on the Isle of Wight than anywhere else in the country.
Parents responsible for registration
Education secretary Damian Hinds, who is due to set out the proposals in more detail next week, said a register would ensure home schooled children were meeting expected standards.
Parents would be responsible for registering their children.
At the end of last January, the Isle of Wight Council said 378 Island children were home educated — the highest proportion in the UK, at almost one child in 50.
Brading: High figure due to ‘excellent’ tracking system
Council cabinet member for children’s services, Cllr Paul Brading, attributed the high figure to the ‘excellent’ tracking systems for home educated children on the Island, compared with under-reporting elsewhere in the country.
Officials hope the register will help local authorities identify when a child’s education is not good enough, whether it is solely religious, whether they are not attending school, or attending an unregistered school.
Hinds: Designed to prevent vulnerable from vanishing under radar
Mr Hinds said:
“The term ‘home education’ has now acquired a much broader meaning than it used to. It is now a catch-all phrase, used to refer to all children not in a registered school.
“So whilst this does include those actually getting a really good education at home, it also includes children who are not getting an education at all, or being educated in illegal schools where they are vulnerable to dangerous influences — the truth is, we just don’t know.
“As a government, we have a duty to protect our young people and do our utmost to make sure they are prepared for life in modern Britain.
“That’s why this register of children not in school is so important – not to crack down on those dedicated parents doing an admirable job of educating their children in their own homes, but to prevent vulnerable young people from vanishing under the radar.”
National picture
There are more than 60,000 children nationally thought to be educated at home — that number has risen by 40 per cent in three years.
Government children’s commissioner Anne Longfield said the number of children not being educated in schools had ‘sky-rocketed’.
She added:
“It is vitally important that we know that all children are safe and that they are receiving the education they deserve to help them to succeed in life.”
A public consultation will run until 24th June.
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which OnTheWight is taking part in. Some alterations and additions may be been made by OnTheWight. Ed Image: DesignsbyKari under CC BY 2.0
