The horrendous case of Sara Sharif rightly raised concerns about the regulation of home schooling in the UK (Judge in Sara Sharif case warns of ‘dangers’ of automatic right to home school children, 17 December). As a 12-year-old home-schooled child, I agree with some of the concerns in Tony Mooney’s letter (25 December) on stricter regulation.
I am fortunate that my home-schooling education has offered me a huge variety of opportunities and permitted me to explore different educational pursuits, which would never have been available at school. However, I realise that in the absence of a good inspection regime, a wide range of practices may occur under the guise of home schooling.
Some cases, just like that of Sara Sharif, may involve horrific abuse and fall through the cracks of the system, but the failure of our social care and family court systems must be primarily blamed in her case.
I strongly believe in the benefits of home schooling. What is needed is a pool of understanding inspectors who know the intricacies of home schooling and can tell when something is amiss. Every year, an education officer visits our home and reviews our work. We take pride in showing him our achievements and plans for the coming year.
Both home-schoolers and the public would be reassured if there were national standards for inspections, and inspectors who are empowered and experienced enough to provide a reliable auditing system.
Mustafa Chaudhry
Solihull, West Midlands
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