Over 300 students from Cork are being home schooled
FIGURES released by the Education Minister have revealed that 314 primary and secondary school students are being home schooled across County Cork.
15 children aged 7, 22 children aged 8, 23 children aged 9, 29 children aged 10 and 32 children aged 11 are all home schooled at a primary level in Cork.
26 students aged 12, 38 students aged 13, 30 students aged 14, 31 students aged 15, 38 students aged 16 and 27 students aged 17 are all home schooled at a secondary level. Less than five students aged 6 and 18 are being home schooled in Cork.
2,365 students are being home schooled throughout the country with the highest number of students studying secondary level curriculum.
The topic was raised by Deputy Catherine Murphy who asked the Minister for Education the number of primary and second level pupils that are being home schooled, by county, and enquired if she will make a statement on the matter.
Minister for Education, Norma Foley responded to the question by providing the figures broken down by age and county and released the following statement:
“The Irish constitution acknowledges the role of a parent or guardian as the primary educator of their child and has enshrined in law that a parent or guardian may home educate their child or may choose to send their child to a school which is not a recognised school in accordance with section 10 of the Education Act, 1998.”
“While the State cannot oblige parents or guardians to send their children to recognised schools, it must satisfy itself that all children receive a certain minimum education.
“Tusla’s Alternative Education Assessment and Registration Service (AEARS) is under the remit of my Department and its function is to assess the educational provision and to maintain a register of children who are being educated in a place other than in a recognised school.
“In response to the Deputy’s query, an age breakdown by county of children on the Section 14 Register is outlined in the table below. For data protection purposes, numbers less than five are suppressed to mitigate the risk of identifying specific children and young people within the data provided.”