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Whitehall concerned about ‘weak local oversight’ of home schooling and radicalisation

Parents and teachers may be given a specific point of contact at councils to raise concerns about a child under new government proposals to tackle radical ideology by tightening the reins on home schooling.

According to media sources, education secretary Nicky Morgan asked officials to review home schooling amid fears that radicalised parents may be “filling their child’s mind with poison” through currently unregulated home education.

It is estimated that between 20,000 and 50,000 children are taught at home, but the government lacks an exact figure because parents are under no obligation to inform their local councils unless they are specifically offered a place in school.

If a local authority has concerns about a child, it can only make an “informal enquiry” to ensure they are getting a suitable education.

A senior government source told the Independent: “There has always been the freedom in this country for people to educate their children at home. Many people do it very well. But we need to know where the children are and to be certain that they are safe.

“For every parent doing a brilliant job, there may be someone filling their child’s mind with poison. We just don’t know. We don’t have reliable figures.”

Under proposals allegedly being reviewed, officials will try to determine how many children are being home-schooled beyond the reach of inspectors.

A Department for Education spokesman told newspaper that Morgan was “determined to tackle radicalisation wherever it occurs”, adding: “We have provided Ofsted with extra inspectors to eradicate extremism in education. We are working with them to address their concerns about home education being exploited, while safeguarding the rights of parents to determine how and where to educate their children.”

According the shadow education secretary, Lucy Powell MP, the lack of local education oversight by councils is a “worrying weak spot” for Whitehall at present.

“It is vital that action is taken to ensure that all children, whether in school or taught at home, are given the knowledge and skills to succeed, not taught a narrow curriculum of hate and bigotry,” she said.

“The reality is that there is a dangerous void in the local oversight of our schools system, created by this government’s education policy, and this is allowing children to drop off the radar, where they could be exposed to harm, exploitation or the influence of extremist ideologies. We urgently need robust local oversight and accountability of all local schooling, regardless of type, so that communities can work together to improve standards and stop children from ending up in harm’s way.”

But Conservative MP Graham Stuart, chair of the Home Education APPG, told the Independent that plans to register home-schooled children should not be considered, saying: “The home is used by parents to inculcate ideas into their children’s heads all the time. Just because there is a problem does not mean there can be a solution.

“If the next step is a formal register, I would resist that strongly. The legal duty to educate a child rests with the parents, not the state. This is a long-standing settlement in this country.”

If Whitehall’s plans are given the green light, they would come under the scope of an overarching strategy to combat extremism locally. In October, it placed a statutory duty on local authorities, and the rest of the public sector, to take action in preventing people from being drawn to terrorism. It also said it would review what powers it has to intervene when councils fail to act.

A report due next year will review these institutions, as well as the civil service and higher education colleges, to ensure they are safeguarded from the risk posed by entryism. The review will set out the identified risk and advise on how to protect against entryism by improving governance, inspection and whistle-blowing mechanisms.