Home-school register to keep pupils on official radar

Local authorities to log those children pulled from formal classes to prevent rise of illegal faith schools

CHILDREN taught at home will be placed on a register and monitored for the first time amid fears that thousands are being educated at illegal schools, Damian Hinds, the Education Secretary has announced.

He warned that while many homeschooled children benefit from the process, others are being exposed to “dangerous influences” at unregistered centres or getting no education at all.

Writing for telegraph.co.uk today, Mr Hinds says the Government cannot stand by as “vulnerable children vanish under the radar”, adding that doing so would see many being “drawn into a spiral of underachievement or worse”.

He says while many parents “selflessly” sacrifice their careers to educate their children, “home education” has become a “catch-all phrase” open to abuse. The register will create a safety net for children at risk of falling through the cracks.

Overseen by councils, it will identify if a child is receiving a “solely religious education” at “illegal” faith schools.

With as many as 60,000 children feared to have gone “off the grid”, a legal duty will also be imposed on councils to monitor the quality of education delivered. At present, nine in every 10 councils cannot account for all children being home educated, raising concern the true figure may be higher.

Parents will be obliged to register their children but will then be able to request financial support from their local authority, including payments for examination admissions and the purchase of teaching resources.

The proposals, floated as part of a consultation process which will run for 12 weeks until 24 June, come amid growing concern over the number of children “off-rolling”, which is thought to be increasing by 25 per cent annually. While many are educated at home, Ofsted last year identified 420 centres it suspects operate illegally, some of which are feared to be teaching a purely religious curriculum or exposing children to extreme views.

Questions also arise over the quality of education provided by parents, with a recent survey by the Association of Directors of Children’s Services finding that only around 10 per cent of these children are known to social services.

Mr Hinds said: “While we know that thousands of children who aren’t in school are receiving an excellent education by committed parents, there is also a proportion who are hidden from view, potentially not receiving an education at all.”

Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner, said: “The number of children not being educated in school has rocketed. It is vital we know that all children are safe and receiving the education they deserve to succeed in life.”