16th December 2009 9:00
By Blue Tutors
A record number of petitions will be presented to the government over their plans to begin more strict monitoring of students in the UK who are schooled at home. 120 petitions smashes the previous record of 44 against cuts and closures to community hospitals in 2006.
The government think that it’s important to monitor every child’s education, and also their general welfare, because it’s difficult to identify any welfare problems when a child has no regular contact with an adult outside of their family. However, a spokesperson for the Children, Schools and Families Select Committee pointed out that child safety should be of paramount importance, and therefore why not register and inspect every family with children, rather than just those who are home-schooled.
A similar scheme in New Zealand showed that 95% of home-schooled students received education that was at least as good as that available in mainstream education, and the programme was quickly dropped.
Reported on politics.co.uk, 8th December 2009