Should we be concerned about the rise in home schooling?

Parents educate their children at home for a variety of reasons but some young people may be at risk of harm, the education minister has said

Most children educated at home are there because their parents believe it offers a better learning environment (PA)

Concerns about young people falling “off the grid” have been growing in the education sector, and now, to allay fears, the government will make families who home school register their child with the council.

The proposal for a mandatory register to ensure authorities can supervise young people out of school comes after the number of children being home schooled doubled in the space of four years.

Education secretary Damian Hinds has warned that some children are being taught in illegal schools, where they are vulnerable to “dangerous influences”, under the banner of “home education”.