Homeschool backtrack

• By Mercedes Basevi, Franklin Junior Journalist

The government has backtracked on a plan to amend regulations relating to homeschooling education in New Zealand.

Education Minister Erica Stanford recently announced that the government had listened to feedback from the homeschool sector and agreed to pause regulation changes.

The government’s Education and Training (System Reform) Amendment Bill passed its second reading in May, with amendments sparking concern across the home-schooling community.

ACT education spokesperson Laura McClure wrote to Stanford, warning that clauses in the amendment paper: “risked treating good parents with suspicion and imposing unreasonable compliance burdens.”

The minister agreed to recommit the bill, much to the relief of home educators across the country.

Prior to the pause, I spoke with an Auckland-based home educator who requested anonymity. While she didn’t disagree with all the proposed changes, she says there could still be a significant impact on parents’ ability to be flexible with their children’s learning.

“I feel homeschooling in general is loosely monitored. Some children benefit from parents having a stricter routine. I disagree with the fact that this bill could limit flexibility and could force parents into a system they were trying to get their children out of. If we were forced to complete NCEA rather than being able to do Cambridge, for example, that would be an issue,” she told the Times.

“I’m so relieved they have not rushed it – rushed decisions aren’t good decisions.”

The family has kept good records in case they were randomly audited. They educated their children, teaching them core subjects but also life skills, she says.

“If they were going to dictate a curriculum that we must follow, that would be an issue. It would impact our flexibility and enjoyment of being able to carve our own learning paths.”

Forcing and rushing makes people question the process, she says, highlighting that consultation is incredibly important to everyone.

“To suddenly change the rules and regulations that drastically makes people suspicious and leaves everybody wondering why.”

The parent says that putting out a basic test would have been a fair, easy way to gain more knowledge of the homeschooling community and see if any areas needed improvement.

“The Ministry of Education could’ve put out a document that said they’ve identified areas that needed improvement, then put it to the homeschooling community that the kids were going to be checked up on more regularly,” she adds.

“We’ve been homeschooling for 10 years and not been audited once. They could’ve said, ‘How can we better support your journey?’ sought feedback and made a decision from there.”