Lessons from Scotland

Have been trying to find a mo to look at Home Education legislation in Scotland with a view to seeing how prospective legislative changes to HE law in England could pan out. The news from The Herald looks hopeful in terms of numbers:

"The number of children in Scotland whose parents have taken them out of school to be taught at home has soared by 39% in the past year."

This comes despite the fact that parents of children who have attended a Scottish state school must seek the education authority's consent before withdrawing their child. It is even more amazing that the numbers are up when we hear from The Scotsman that at least six Scottish councils are being obstructive when parents seek to de-register their children from school, (this despite the fact that a section of the Scottish Ed Act provides that education authorities must not unreasonably withhold consent).

The fact that parents cannot be deemed responsible for the education of their children in the situation that they have to seek the consent of the state as to where the education takes place makes Scottish law very vulnerable, as Lord Adonis seems to be aware. It would be great if the frailties of Scottish HE legislation could be exposed sometime very soon, preferably before the government bother to impose a similar system here.