Home education is gaining popularity with each passing day. The data released showed that there was a 27 percent increase in the number of children who identified as homeschooled. Ofsted has voiced its concern saying that the majority of parents are not prepared enough when they make this decision.
The Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted), an England based school watchdog, has been voicing its concern on the home education system. They conducted research to understand the underlying reasons that parents opt for this type of education, the cost associated with the whole process and whether the parents understand the magnitude of this decision.
The research was quick to determine that for most parents, the decision on whether or not to go for home education is based on factors such as special needs kids, child behavior of the children and even out of concern of their kids’ wellbeing.
Collapsed communication between the schools and parents
Parents need better advice according to the watchdog which conducted the research on home education in seven local authorities in East Midlands. 16 local authorities for homeschooling were interviewed during this research. 36 senior leaders in high schools, 23 parents and 7 children who had experience in home education were also interviewed by the organization.
Parents said that the process was scary, there was no help involved in the entire process and it mostly included snap decision meaning there is not enough time to prepare. The research also determined that, in most instances, the communication between the schools and parents had collapsed which resulted in parents withdrawing their children from schools. One parent said:
It’s very easy to misunderstand and think, ‘Well, there’s a council there, there’ll be a budget there to help us with these sorts of things and there’ll be support services,
School teachers also complained that more often, the decision to remove the children from their school is not discussed with them. These teachers feel sidelined for such an important decision on a kid’s education. There were also concerns that children’s views are not taken into consideration when such decisions are made.
Home education gaining popularity
Home education is on the rise with an estimated 58,000 kids known to be homeschooled. This is a 27 percent increase from last year. Children aged between 11 to 14 years constituted the majority on this system. The highest increase in the number being homeschooled is for children between the ages of 14 to 16 years.
Parents, local authorities and schools need to work together for the sake of their children. Home education, if done right can be beneficial and beneficial to children. However, it is vital that parents are well informed about these decisions because they may end up affecting their children for their entire life.
