Parents in England who home educate could be required to inform the state if their children attend Sunday school or football clubs, under Government proposals.
Clause 25 of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill requires local authorities to create a register of children in their area who are being home educated.
In addition to the names and addresses of parents and children, the register will also require parents to specify the amount of time the child spends “receiving education from each parent”, along with details of any education received from other people.
‘Intrusive bureaucracy’
The bureaucratic requirements could see parents having to provide an hourly breakdown of a child’s life and relationship with their parents, as well as their involvement in sports clubs and places of worship.
The Christian Institute has warned that this overreach may interfere with the human rights of both children and parents, including the right to a private and family life under Article 8 of the European Convention.
The Christian Institute’s Deputy Director Simon Calvert said: “These new proposals clobber hard-working parents with excessive and intrusive bureaucracy just because they home educate. It doesn’t make sense to require officials to discriminate against them when they are simply seeking to provide an education in the best interests of their child.
“Treating all home-educating parents as a suspect category is not fair. They are being asked to disclose sensitive information to officials about their family lives that is not required from those that choose to send their child to school.”
‘Echoes of totalitarian states’
He continued: “Parents choose home education for all kinds of reasons. Some find their child’s school to be an unsafe environment or unable to handle their special educational needs. Others opt for it out of religious or philosophical conviction.
“Some parents will choose to home educate as a result of being forced out of the fee-paying sector by the new VAT rules, only to find themselves being targeted by this new bureaucratic overreach.
“It appears that home-educating parents will have to report if their child attends Sunday School, including names and addresses of the Sunday School teachers. This has echoes of totalitarian states.
“The same requirements could also apply to a home-educated child’s private music, maths or sports tuition. Requiring a parent to report – within 15 days – every time their child’s football coach changes seems intrusive and burdensome.”
Unjustified discrimination
Mr Calvert added: “There is also a duty on Sunday School and sports club leaders to record information about any home-educated children in their classes. How volunteer leaders are meant to have the time to interrogate children and their families about this is not clear.
“Some providers might opt to refuse entry to home-educated children in order to avoid risking a fine. This exclusion will reduce opportunities for home-educated children.
“Home-educating parents have long suffered unjustified discrimination. During lockdown, when most families experienced a form of home education, this negative attitude dissipated. The Bill risks undoing the progress made, to the detriment of home-educated children and their families.”
See our briefing on the Childrens Wellbeing and Schools Bill for further information.
Govt pushes for forced registration of home-schooling families in England