Thursday, 11th June 2009

The Badman Review into Home Education, out today, has been slammed by UKIP as a heavyhanded Government attempt to tell parents how their children should be taught

"The release of the Badman Review into Home Education today is yet another example of this government's controlling, heavy handed approach to society," said UKIP chairman Paul Nuttall MEP.

He said: "Calling for local councils to have the right to interfere in the responsibility of parents to provide sufficient education for their children may sound reasonable but amounts to a grab for power.
 
"Worse still the Government is using appalling scare tactics to justify its actions by suggesting that home education is a cover for the worst forms of child abuse. No evidence is presented merely smears and threats."
 
The newly-elected North West region MEP said: "UKIP believe that it should be up to the parent to decide how their children be educated.

"Child abuse must be tackled, but the tragic failures of the systems have been due to local councils' inability to follow basic procedures, not due to home educators.
 
"The fact that this report is being backed by organisations such as the NSPCC and the National Children's Bureau should come as no surprise.

"Those organisations are these days largely adjuncts to the state and appear to see for themselves a role in the monitoring, inspecting and running of Home Education, all for a nice taxpayer-funded fee. They are not independent voices and mustn't be seen as such."
 
An Action for Home Education spokesmananother an has called for the Badman review to be abandoned, saying: "AHEd members believe that the review has been composed in this skewed manner in order to attain predetermined answers for the purpose of supporting the government's desire to impose compulsory registration, monitoring and tracking of electively home-educated children and their families, including state control and prescription of educational method, content and outcome for all children."

UKIP's home education policy can be found here.

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