Below is a conversation posted with permission by a home ed parent (Martine Cotter) and an MP regarding the Anti Home Ed Bill Currently going through parliament find out more about that here >>> Anti Home Ed Bill
M.P UPDATE
On Friday 23rd February 2017 I met with my Conservative M.P to discuss the Home Education Bill.
The conversation went a bit like this;
MP: So, you are here to discuss home education?
ME: No, I am here to discuss Lord Soley’s Private Members Bill regarding Home Education.
MP: What don’t you like about the Bill?
ME: All of it.
MP: Let me tell you where I stand. I am a firm believer in the rights of parents to choose the education for their children. I am a huge fan of home education and have many close friends who have opted for this route. I have grave concerns about the education system, which I have expressed to the Education Minister and I would fight vigorously to protect your right to home educate. But…I can’t see why anyone would have a problem with signing a register. It seems reasonable to me. Why do you have a problem with it?
ME: We have little time, so I am going to be completely honest with you...The school education system is broken. It does not cater for the needs of children who are either gifted or who are unable to keep up with a rigid and unaccommodating curriculum and test-driven culture. Children are suffering. CAMHS are busting at the seams. Parents are being forced to review their decision to outsource education as it is not fit for purpose. They have joined thousands of others, some of whom have never outsourced education, to exercise their legal right to educate their own children. The problem is, we are growing in numbers, year on year, and the Government don’t like it. They don’t like it because they are losing control. So, rather than address the elephant in the room (the broken education system) they have decided that Home Education needs more legislation – and it starts with finding out who we are and where we are. We are the easy option because overhauling the education system is in the too-hard-to-do box.
MP: I agree.
ME: You want a register, but a register cannot be implemented without sanctions. There must be penalties for not complying.
MP: But why would you not want to comply?
ME: Can you name any other national register that is compulsory?
MP: (Scoffs)
ME: Yes, it is uncomfortable. There is a national register of sex offenders. We also have a MAPPA register for violent offenders. I’m an accredited Chair for Domestic Homicide Reviews and signed a petition for a national register for Serious and Serial Domestic Abuse Perpetrators, which was presented alongside 130,000 other signatures, to 10 Downing Street last year. To date, we have not heard a dickie bird.
Can you see where I am going with this? The only other national registers in existence are for known criminals – the worst of the worst. On top of that, you want to consider a register for home educators BEFORE a register for convicted dangerous domestic abuse perpetrators. Can you understand why I would feel slightly aggrieved by that?
MP: Yes.
ME: Furthermore, I am not prepared to sign up to anything that I don’t understand. I fail to understand the purpose of this register.
MP: Well, every child deserves an education. We have to make sure that happens.
ME: Define an education.
MP: (Laughs). My definition of an education is one that prepares a child for life in the world in which we live. Experiences and community. Learning is lifelong. My colleagues define education differently. They often describe it as academia. There are many that are hell-bent on keeping up with the Chinese as they see this as the benchmark for academia. I don’t agree.
ME: So, you can see our first stumbling block? You want a register to make sure every child is receiving an education, but you can’t even agree within your own party what constitutes an education.
MP: Yes, some serious thought would need to be given to how this would be implemented.
ME: You’re not wrong. So, what other reasons are there for the register?
MP: It is unacceptable for us to not know how many children are being home educated. We need to know that at the very least.
ME: Why?
MP: For one, I’d like to know just how many parents are de-registering from our schools because they are deemed unfit to cater for their child’s needs.
ME: So, you want numbers? Isn’t that a Census?
MP: I like that. That would be a good compromise in my opinion. A census could stop this Bill in its tracks. But what about the child protection element?
ME: I’m glad you raised that. I have been appalled by the behaviour of Lord Soley and his supporters who think it is acceptable to compare us with child abuse cases here and in America, just because there was a tenuous link with home education. In my opinion, this is your biggest problem.
If I said to you now, ‘you are a computer user, therefore you might be using the dark web’. If I said, ‘you are a pet owner, and therefore there is a chance you are mistreating your dog’ - how would you feel?
You might feel the same way as I do, when Lord Soley says ’You are a home educator, therefore you may be abusing your child’.
Surely, you understand you can’t legislate for abusers who hide out in every section of the community? It is not home educators who hide and mistreat their children. It’s abusers. It’s ludicrous to target one group of individuals. Where do you stop before you become a nanny state?
Which is why I don’t think this is about the protection of children. It’s a sly and unforgivable tactic to hide your need for control.
If it was about the protection of children, you would all support the call for a national register for serious domestic abuse perpetrators.
MP: I do have to reiterate I am on your side. Most of my colleagues will fight for home educators and know that the majority of them do an outstanding job. I don’t know why this government is so control focused – I have challenged it myself. Many have lost sight of the rights of parents and think they deserve to control everything. There are a few who are automatically suspicious of anyone who wants to home educate…
ME: I would happily extend an invite to your pompous and privileged friends, who have lost touch with what is happening on the ground, to meet with me and my daughter’s ex-school to discuss why we were forced to de-register. Perhaps they need to meet the parents of the children who have been bullied? The children who have had not had that SEN needs met? In fact, I’d ask when they last reviewed the industrial-aged system to see if it still prepares children for life?
We come back to the issue of the education system being broken. And it being highly unlikely of ever being fixed. Which means that home education will continue to grow exponentially over the coming years. They won’t like that.
MP: I agree.
ME: Can I ask how you would feel in my position? I removed my daughter after 10 years in school. It crushed her. She cried most days. Her anxiety became so bad that I took her to a neuro-disability Paediatrician, who diagnosed her with a learning disability. 10 years, four schools, countless teachers – and they all missed it.
Since homeschooling, she has blossomed. She no longer feels unsafe, so her mind is open to learning again. For the first time in a long time, she is happy and thirsty for knowledge. She is recovering and thriving.
Now, you want me to sign a register that will enable a local authority officer – of God Knows what qualification – to come into our family home, our safe space, and interview our daughter with social anxieties, alone, to assess her education against a definition we have yet to define.
My reply is ‘How Dare You!’. How dare you sit there and ask why I have a problem signing a register. We are the ones who have a right to be suspicious. To date, there has been no honest dialogue about why this register is needed and what it will achieve, other than spurious underhanded aspersions, that make us feel untrusting and angry. Rightfully so. We have Local Authorities already misquoting legislation and doorstepping parents. We have Lords misleading the public in national newspapers. Why should we trust you when you say it is just a register?
MP: It does seem like a slippery slope. Equally, I don’t think they have thought about how it will be implemented or costed.
ME: You’re not wrong. What can we do as a community to at least encourage honest and open dialogue about this Bill?
MP: Good Question. I don’t know. Without a single spokesperson, it is difficult to communicate with the government directly, however, MP’s love nothing more than representing a large number of constituents with the same issue. I would advise all Home Educators to lobby their MP’s. It can be very powerful and effective. If you want to organise a group meeting here before or after the committee stage I will happily ask questions and lobby this Bill on your behalf.
