Scottish Executive Guidance with regard to Home Educators
Following the long history of this, the guidance has finally appeared, largely welcomed by Scottish HE'ers. This goes to show that, in some areas of these isles, listening to real people really does work.
Relevant links as listed...
guidance:-
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/education/gcech.pdf
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/education/gcech-00.asp
consultation report;-
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/education/gcpech.pdf
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/education/gcpech-00.asp
and the schoolhouse press release:-
Media Information from
Schoolhouse Home Education Association
CAUTIOUS WELCOME FOR HOME EDUCATION GUIDANCE
Schoolhouse, the national support charity for families who educate their
children out of school in Scotland, has given a cautious welcome to the
statutory guidance released today (Friday) by the Scottish Executive.
Schoolhouse Convener, Jennifer Laing, said:
"Schoolhouse welcomes the fact that the Scottish Executive has taken on
board many of the issues we raised following the disastrous first draft,
which
can only be described as a gross insult to home educators in Scotland.
Rather
than improving relationships between our community and local education
authorities, it effectively destroyed our trust overnight.
"It has now taken more than three years to get a reasonable, hopefully
workable, document out of the Executive. We congratulate the Education
Minister, Peter Peacock, for having the courage to admit that his
department got it terribly wrong in the first instance. However, only time
will tell whether it will achieve what it has set out to achieve, and we
will reserve judgement until we see how it works in practice.
"Although a number of councils have consistently demonstrated their
commitment to improving relationships by working with local home educators
and support groups, Schoolhouse still hears on a regular basis from
families who report unacceptable treatment at the hands of education
authorities. It is therefore reassuring for these families to know that
they can now expect some degree of consistency across Scotland."
Responding to critics who described the Executive's second draft as a
"cave-in", Ms Laing added:
"We have frankly been appalled by the reaction of some councils and
organisations, who have stooped to alarmist innuendo and smear tactics to
suggest - without a shred of evidence - that home educators are more
likely to abuse their children. Thankfully, the Scottish Executive did not
bow to the ignorant prejudice of vested interests, but chose instead to
listen to reasoned arguments from the home education community."
First issued in draft form in December 2001, the initial guidance
document drew overwhelming criticism from Schoolhouse, who attacked it as
a "bullies' charter" and warned that it would be open to legal challenge
for seeking to override both human rights and data protection legislation.
Many education authorities and children's organisations agreed that it was
unworkable, and the strength of feeling from the home education community
was such that Schoolhouse predicted "untold damage to relationships
between home educating families and education authorities" - the opposite
effect to what the guidance was designed to achieve.
A campaigning coalition - Freedom in Education - was formed, which sought
to raise awareness of the measures the Executive had proposed in order to
"track down and harass a minority group of law abiding families", and
demanded the document be scrapped and re-written.
At the same time, an unprecedented number of MSPs from all parties signed
a parliamentary motion censuring the Executive for its failure to adhere
to assurances given during a parliamentary debate during the passage of
the Standards in Scottish Schools Act 2000.
In the face of universal opposition, the Executive entered into further
discussions with the home education community, eventually agreeing to
re-write the document from scratch and re-issue it for full consultation.
Commenting on the final guidance, Alison Preuss, who co-founded
Schoolhouse in Dundee in 1996, said:
"Schoolhouse was originally established in order to address the
information deficit which existed for home educators in Scotland, and to
provide support for the many families who were experiencing 'postcode
prejudice' when exercising their legal right to educate their children out
of school.
"Eight years on, our volunteers are still supporting families whose
treatment at the hands of education officials is nothing short of
outrageous. Despite the rhetoric, diversity still appears to be a dirty
word for too many education authorities, and it is gratifying that the
Scottish Executive has at last taken steps to curb the most blatant abuses
of power."
ENDS
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