BBC NEWS | Education | Schools failing ‘missing pupils’
A new register is being compiled so authorities can compare a list of all children of compulsory education age with their school rolls, to identify those who may be missing education.
Advocates of home education say many of those said to be “missing” from the system are simply being educated by their parents, as the law allows.
There is currently no requirement for them to be known to education authorities if they have never attended a school.
Comments
6 responses to “Don't want to worry anyone, but I think the countdown has started…”
Groan …
argh! I’m getting worried over all this esp with the stuff I’m hearing about Doncaster LEA. Going to crawl in a corner I think…
I know we value our freedom, but the majority of children out of school probably are those who do need to be followed up by the system because they are not receiving an appropriate education, and I think the system should be able to ensure that there are not children simply slipping through the cracks. I feel sure that very few genuine home-educators would have a problem with an inspection procedure as legally authorised, and not, obviously, as envisaged by Mr I of Donc LEA.
I don’t think this is quite the same issue as the Children Act and the implication we should be checked up on to make sure we’re not abusing our children, it is in fact the job of the LEA to endure that children do receive an appropriate education .
Sorry, I’m in stroppy mood today 🙂
But the children they are talking about in the main body of the article are known to the system, it is purely the LEA that is failing them. Why drag home educators into the equation at all?
Because they probably see us as a nice easy way to get their figures up to more *respectable levels*, without actually having to do anything to improve their shortcomings.
I noticed that they did not differentiate between HE’d kids and those that just did not want any education. Getting the two intertwined like this just gives the wrong impression. And the call to ‘monitor’ kids expelled etc may lead to to the request for HE kids which I will fight tooth and nail not to happen.