Fear of crime means more children are taught at home

Record numbers of children are being educated at home as fear of knife crime, drugs, and bullying prompts more parents to exercise their right to teach their offspring out of school, an education charity said yesterday. There could be as many as 150,000 children being taught at home as a growing number of parents believe their children will do better away from school.

Education Otherwise, a charity which supports parents wanting to educate their children at home, has reported growing interest, particularly among the parents of younger children who are so concerned that they plan to never send their children to school.

Ann Newstead, the charity's spokeswoman, said there had been a steady increase in the number of families teaching their children at home. "Whether it is perceived or real, the apparent rise in drugs and knife culture in schools is shocking and makes people think their child might not be safe in school. We have had a big increase in people joining with pre-school children. They are looking at the state system but do not believe it is working.

Mrs Newstead, who has four children, aged 12, 10, 5 and 8 months, withdrew her two eldest sons from school in July 2005 because of bullying. "My seven-year-old [now aged 10] was being badly bullied," she said. "When we took him out of school we gave our eldest son the choice. It's worked so well that this September we made the decision not to send our third child to school."

The Government's own research has revealed that the number of young people withdrawn from school is on the increase following concern over indiscipline and the quality of lessons.

Last week the biggest review of primary education for decades revealed that parents were increasingly choosing to educate children at home because they objected to the state school regime of testing and targets.

Between 45,000 and 150,000 children are thought to be educated at home. Last year figures from local councils suggested that the number of parents schooling their children at home has increased at least eightfold within five years in some areas. But no definitive statistics exist because parents are not obliged to notify the authorities that they intend to educate at home.

Education Otherwise argues the numbers may be three times higher than those disclosed as local authorities have no record of them. However, officials have expressed fears that some home-educated children do little or no work.

Local authorities fear the well-being of "a small number of children" is being put at risk by the "minimal" regulation of standards, the Department for Children, Schools and Families said in a consultation document on whether new laws were needed. But ministers have been reluctant to give authorities extra powers. Instead they hope to raise standards by giving parents access to national curriculum materials, libraries and and free admission to sports centres.

Responsibility for a child's education rests with their parents. Although education is compulsory for children aged five to 16 in England, schooling is not. Home educators do not have to follow the national curriculum or give formal lessons.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said schools provided the best education for most children, denied that children were over-tested and said the proportion of home-educated children was between 0.09 per cent and 0.42 per cent. "We have given teachers the powers and support they need to tackle bullying," she added.