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The Guardian view on home-schooling in England: a register is needed

A man helps a boy with his homework
The government believes that most home educators do a good job, and hopes that they will support its plans for a register. Above, photograph posed by models. Photograph: Andersen Ross/Getty Images/Blend Images

The killing of 18-year-old Jordan Burling was needless and preventable, a judge told his mother and grandmother on sentencing them for his manslaughter last week. Burling died from bronchopneumonia following a heart attack in 2016, but the underlying cause was malnutrition and neglect so extreme that it is painful to imagine.

Defence lawyers stressed that Mr Burling was an adult, who had made what his grandmother Denise Cranston called a “choice” not to see a doctor. But he was a boy of 12 when his mother told the council she would home-school him. A safeguarding review will now examine how the authorities lost sight of Mr Burling, who had taken no exams nor gained any qualifications, and make recommendations as to how such a disaster can be avoided in future. But there is no reason for the government to wait before acting on behalf of other home-schooled children, of whom there are thought to be around 50,000 in the UK – a number that has increased sharply in recent years.

There is no evidence that being home-schooled leads to an increased risk of abuse or neglect. The government believes most home educators do a good job. But reviews following the death from scurvy of eight-year-old Dylan Seabridge in Wales in 2011, and of Khyra Ishaq, who was starved to death aged seven in Birmingham in 2008, highlighted home-schooling as a factor. Concerns around safeguarding, and what happens when children disappear from the view of professionals who might otherwise support them, are one reason why the government is seeking to tighten and clarify the rules surrounding home education.

The key proposal is a mandatory register of home-educated children, along with increased monitoring and support from local authorities. The government also promises a tougher approach to schools that encourage parents to remove pupils they are struggling with (“off-rolling”), and to a growing number of unregistered, illegal schools where Ofsted believes pupils may be at risk of radicalisation.

It is strongly to be hoped that home-schooling parents and groups, as well as local authorities, will support these changes, which are similar to measures already introduced in Wales. Councils must be equipped and resourced to carry out their duty to ensure all children receive a “suitable” education. Not all parents are equipped to provide such an education, as appalling cases such as that of Mr Burling show. Home educators must recognise this, and support efforts to protect a vulnerable minority, even if this means surrendering some of their highly prized autonomy.

Some children and families are failed by schools and councils, which is one reason for the rise in home education. But all children, whatever their parents’ beliefs or their individual needs, have the right to learn and thrive. It is the state’s duty to make sure they are not deprived of it.