San Francisco Frontiers - Fears as homeschooling rates 'surge' in England

The Department for Education (DfE) reported that around a quarter of parents involved said they were keeping children at home primarily as a "lifestyle choice" or for "philosophical or preferential reasons".

That represented an increase on the start of the school year, when fewer than one in five gave those as their main motivations.

The homeschooling trend, which has intensified since Covid forced parents to teach their children for prolonged periods, has heightened fears that increasing numbers are missing out on quality education and socialisation.

"I think it is a surge -- these numbers have skyrocketed over the last seven or eight years," former children's commissioner Anne Longfield, who now chairs the Centre for Young Lives think-tank, told BBC radio.

"We need to take this much more seriously," she added, urging the government and local authorities to "really help schools provide the kind of support they know these children need to stay in school."

The sudden spike in homeschooled children -- from an estimated 86,200 at the start of 2023 to 97,600 in the summer term -- emerged from data provided by local councils.

Only four percent of parents said health concerns over Covid were the main factor behind their decision, suggesting the pandemic-associated increase could be morphing into a long-term feature.

Although some parents were choosing to homeschool, Longfield argued that for many more, "it's not a choice".

She noted a range of factors -- from kids feeling unhappy in school and not getting the support they need to a lack of state-funded resources -- were contributing to the decisions to homeschool.

"It can just be a desperate choice, and those are the families we really need to focus on, to understand what's needed to help those children remain in school and flourish," she said.

- 'Boots on the ground' -

Separate DfE figures published Thursday for the current school year that started in September showed 20 percent of children in England are persistently absent from school while not being taught elsewhere.

That was down on the previous academic year but still above pre-pandemic rates and an added concern.

The UK government in London, which looks after schools in England, has for several years pledged to create a compulsory national register of homeschooled children.

But legislation to kickstart that has yet to be introduced and is unlikely before a general election due later this year.

The main opposition Labour party, riding high in the polls, has vowed to press ahead with the register and empower schools' watchdog Ofsted to play a bigger oversight role.

It also wants to incentivise attendance through funding for other measures like school breakfast clubs.

Longfield said England faces "a particular problem" with finances for schools and associated services, with headteachers telling her of the need for more social workers and related support staff.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, agreed that "children's social care and mental health support have suffered cuts or failed to keep up with demand over the last decade.

"Crucial local authority roles like education welfare officers have been decimated," he told The Guardian.

"We need to see more boots on the ground, with visits to families to get to the bottom of issues with children's attendance."

C.Williams--SFF