Do try this at home: parents declare school's in
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday July 20, 2009
AS POLITICIANS argue over league tables and teaching standards, parents are increasingly taking their children out of the school system.This year 2342 children are registered with the Department of Education for home schooling, nearly double the 1197 registered four years ago. And over the past year their number has grown by 17.5 per cent.People who educate their own children believe the official figures are low."You can safely add 50 to 70 per cent to that because many home educators don't register," the president of the Home Education Association, Esther Lacoba, said. "Anecdotally, many more are doing it than are registered. We estimate it is at least 2 per cent of school-aged children, but it could be as great as 5 per cent."It's parents making choices about what to learn and when."Unregistered children could be in breach of truancy laws.In the United States, concerns about the quality of education and religion are the reasons cited by about a third of people who teach their children at home.No equivalent studies have been conducted in Australia, but religion is often cited."That's part of it, but not the entirety of our decision," said Libby Hadges of Carlton. She and her husband, a youth pastor, are Christians. "I see the advantage of spending bulk time with my children," she said.Concerns about educational standards, socialisation and special needs are other factors that influence the decision to home-school, said Terry Harding, a former principal of the Australian Principal Academy, who has written a thesis on the matter."It's an unpaid job that may last for 20 years and reduces the family to single-income status," he said. "What percentage of the population is happy to live on a single income for 20 years? You have to be committed."Mrs Hadges said: "It's a hard choice at times. We've been on a single income for 20 years ... We live in an old house that's not been renovated, but that's not everything."When her first child was three years old, she felt pressure in "deciding which preschool to use, deciding whether it was a good school, or not"."I've barely had this child, and I have to think of giving it to someone," Mrs Hadges said.This led her to think about going it alone. "None of my children have been to school, and the eldest got into university without doing the HSC."As the numbers of the home-schooled have grown, so have the options for extracurricular activities. There are now two choirs for children in home-schooling, one for senior students and one for juniors. People around Carlton, in Sydney's south, clubbed together to hire a drama teacher who takes as many as 80 students for extracurricular classes."The State Government needs to have a look at the rise in home schooling, which might mean a trend away from government schools," said Adrian Piccoli, the Opposition's spokesman on education. "We need to make sure public schools are the first choice of parents."A spokeswoman for the Board of Studies said the spread of the internet and higher broadband speeds might have improved access to learning materials, and this might be fuelling some of the growth in home schooling.
© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald