The UK Government formally declared war on home education in England today with its inclusion in the Queen’s speech of a stated intention to introduce a licensing scheme for parents. It is almost inevitable that any such scheme, if it ever managed to reach the statue books, would lead to mass non-co-operation by home educating families, with catastrophic consequences for council budgets and state/family relationships.
Opposition parties have been united in their condemnation of Labour’s legislative programme, describing the content of the monarch’s speech as “politically loaded” and “a list of sweeteners” heralding the start of Labour’s election campaign.
Home educators are neither surprised nor impressed. Some have already pointed to the government’s failure to fulfil its promise to publish the consultation responses to the controversial Badman report, which strongly suggests that the proposed legislative changes have been driven not by a genuine desire to improve children’s education or wellbeing, but by prejudice and policy based evidence to suit a pre-determined agenda.
