The number of parents opting to homeschool is growing every year according to NSW education department officials, who say the "vast majority" of students who did not go back to classrooms in 2022 had "underlying health conditions".
The number of homeschooled students grew by almost 2300 at the end of 2021, with Paul Martin, Chief Executive Officer of the NSW Education Standards Authority saying the government regards homeschooling "very differently" to learn-from-home education used during the pandemic.
The department also said officials were in contact with non-returning students and had formed an understanding they had mostly not come back because of health concerns, Georgina Harrisson, Education Department Secretary told budget estimates on Wednesday.
She said the "vast majority" of students who had not come back to schools this year had "underlying medical conditions".
"I think in those circumstances some of that anxiety is very much understandable," she said.
"(Others) are in the older years of high school, have very complex family circumstances, where families are making choices about employment, and there are a number of factors at play.
"We have had exceptionally high attendance through this term.
"The work that went into making schools a safe setting, and maintaining that community confidence has been very effective.
"We are making the school environment as safe as possible in the context of COVID-19 and for the vast majority of students, sadly not for all students, but for the vast majority of students, COVID-19 is a very mild illness."
Ms Harrisson said attendance rates for the beginning of term were about 87 per cent which she was "within the margin of error" across the system.
Abigail Boyd, committee member and Greens MP said her office had been contacted by a number of constituents concerned by the return-to-school because of COVID-19.
The number of students registered for homeschooling grew about 2295 in 12 months to 8995 students on December 31, 2021.
The previous year, some 6700 students were registered for homeschooling in NSW, Mr Martin said on Wednesday.
He said the number of students being home schooled had been increasing "sequentially" over the years.
He said NESA and the education department regarded homeschooling "very differently" to the "learning from home" teaching rolled out for all NSW students throughout the pandemic.
The department of education rolled out mandatory twice-weekly rapid antigen testing for COVID-19 the first five weeks of term as part of its safe return-to-school plan.
As part of the plan, test kits were provided by the department.
This was eased to an on-demand basis last week.
