Home education review

Thought I should link to the actual report. 

Some of the recommendations are good. Things like the DCSF paying for exam entry, should the child want to be examined (recommendation 10). 

And then we get to recommendation 15:

That the DCSF take such action as necessary to prevent schools or local authorities advising parents

to consider home education to prevent permanent exclusion or using such a mechanism to deal with

educational or behavioural issues.

I'm sorry. Say that again? You're preventing schools and local authorities from advising parents to consider home education? WTF? WTF? No, seriously, WTF?

And that's ignoring such gems as recommendation 7:

The DCSF should bring forward proposals to change the current regulatory and statutory basis to

ensure that in monitoring the efficiency and suitability of elective home education:

• That designated local authority officers should: 
  •  have the right of access to the home;
  •  have the right to speak with each child alone if deemed appropriate or, if a child is particularly vulnerable or has particular communication needs, in the company of a trusted person who is not the home educator or the parent/carer.

In so doing, officers will be able to satisfy themselves that the child is safe and well.

• That a requirement is placed upon local authorities to secure the monitoring of the effectiveness of elective home education as determined in Recommendation 1.

• That parents be required to allow the child through exhibition or other means to demonstrate both attainment and progress in accord with the statement of intent lodged at the time of registration.

Watch! Watch as the small child performs for the inspectors! Watch how they jump through the hoops that their parents were forced to write down 12 months ago in order to allow them to continue to home educate their children. Because autonomous education totally works like that.

Honestly, I hope Education Otherwise screws the government well and truly over this, preferably under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (article 26, paragraph 3: Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children). Oh, but wait, this is a Labour government and we all know their record regarding human rights. Guess we're all screwed afterall.

(Seriously, though, if people could write to their MPs about why this review is mind-boggingly stupid, it would really help. They have 3 months to make a decision on this (I think) so any and all action taken during that time will help.)