Proposals to force parents who educate their children at home to register with their local council are heavy-handed and unnecessary, MPs have warned.
Under the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, registers of children not in school must record the names and addresses of parents and children, the amount of time a child spends “receiving education from each parent”, and details of any education received from other people.
At Third Reading, the final debate in the House of Commons, the Government successfully extended the Bill’s provisions on home education to Wales.
Parental freedom
Labour MP Abtisam Mohamed commended “the thousands of families who are taking responsibility for their children’s education”.
Munira Wilson, the Liberal Democrats’ spokeswoman on Education, warned that the level of administrative and reporting requirements placed on home educators under the Bill “risks becoming intrusive and unnecessary”.
Graham Stuart MP, Conservative, called on Minister for Education Catherine McKinnell to guarantee that new regulations would not require parents to document “what home-educated children do at the weekends and during the holidays”.
Vikki Slade (Lib Dem) branded the detail demanded by the Government in the local authority register “overreach”. Neil O’Brien (Con) said the provisions were “overly burdensome”, and fellow Conservative Bradley Thomas argued the Bill risked ‘stigmatising’ home educators.
Protections rejected
During the debate, McKinnell told the House that “it would not be appropriate or proportionate for those home-educated children who are not at risk and who are receiving suitable education to be placed in a school if it is not their parents’ preference.
“This Government will respect parents’ rights to opt for home education, while keeping children safe from harm and securing their right to education.”
Amendments to limit the level of detail to be recorded in the register, to restrict local authority access to the home, and to remove the need to document educational activities outside regular school hours were defeated.
MPs voted in favour of the Bill and it now goes across to the House of Lords for further scrutiny.
Govt pushes for forced registration of home-schooling families in England
