Education at home needs some checks

There are some for whom school is a wonderful place where they make friends for life, are happy, fulfilled and achieve.

But that is not the case for all. Children are not made from a mould, so a “one size fits all” system will never work for all, however hard the best teachers and schools try.

Whether we like it or not, school is not for every child and alternatives should and do exist.

One of those alternatives – home education – appears to be an increasingly popular choice in Wales, as it is across the border in England.

The numbers doing it may be tiny but they have been increasing year on year since 2011 in Wales.

It would be interesting to know all the reasons why, and more work should be done to see where, who and why some children and schools are incompatible.

Some parents may be home educating their children as a philosophical or lifestyle choice, but it seems growing numbers are taking their children out of the classroom because they have learning needs that are not being met.

These parents say they are not against the system per se, but their children were unable to thrive or were desperately unhappy or bullied in school.

While it is healthy to have other systems, not all parents are capable of, or committed to, giving their children the highest-quality home education that the best home schoolers do provide.

Children’s Commissioner for Wales Professor Sally Holland and children’s charity NSPCC Cymru have made repeated calls for a register of home educators.

Prof Holland also wants the law changed so children learning at home can comment on whether they are happy with that education or not.

It is hard to see how this might work – who, after all, would feel happy to criticise the parents they live with and learn from to the authorities about whom they have misgivings?

Families have many different reasons for taking their children out of school or never sending them in the first place.

True numbers and all the various reasons are hard to get because there is no obligation for parents to register their children as homeeducated.

So there will be more children home-educated in Wales than official figures show.

While many of them get a good education, with opportunities to socialise and take part in activities, as long as there is no register there are no checks for those who are not so lucky.

Some parents would, doubtless, refuse to register and be monitored by a system that they perceive as having failed them.

And while most have their children’s best interests at heart, there may be some young people not getting the opportunities they need.

All education systems need checks, whether learning happens at school or home.

It’s the least we can do for our children. The Western Mail newspaper is published by Media Wales a subsidiary company of Trinity Mirror PLC, which is a member of IPSO, the Independent Press Standards Organisation. The entire contents of The Western Mail are the copyright of Media Wales Ltd. It is an offence to copy any of its contents in any way without the company’s permission. If you require a licence to copy parts of it in any way or form, write to the Head of Finance at Six Park Street. The recycled paper content of UK newspapers in 2016 was 62.8%