More than a million young people in England could be missing formal full-time education, fuelled by significant gaps in education legislation, rising child support needs and a lack of funding, according to a new LGA report.
Some councils have reported increases in home education registrations of more than 200 per cent for September and October, compared with the same period last year, with parents choosing to home school their children because of coronavirus safety fears and increasing numbers of pupils having to stay out of school and self-isolate.
Although many parents provide good home education, the LGA is concerned that COVID-19 has led to increasing numbers of children receiving unsuitable education outside the classroom.
It is calling for schools to be forced to share attendance registers with councils – which is currently only voluntary – and for local authorities to have the tools and flexibilities to check a child’s home schooling, and make sure they aren’t being taught in unsuitable or dangerous environments.
The LGA estimates that in 2018/19, 282,000 children in England may have missed out on formal full-time education – around 2 per cent of the school age population – but this figure could be as high as 1.14 million depending on how ‘formal’ and ‘full-time’ is defined.
The LGA’s report, ‘Children missing education’, says that gaps in the coordination of policies and guidance is allowing children to slip through the net, with children with additional vulnerabilities – such as social, behavioural, medical or mental health needs – most at risk.
Cllr Judith Blake, Chair of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board, said the LGA wants to work with government “to make swift changes to legislation to make the education safety net more robust for the benefit of current and future generations of young people and society overall”.