Parents see home schooling review as threat to rights

Parents and children are speaking out against proposed changes to the home education system which could see youngsters cross-examined for hours on end.

A petition was handed over to MP for Lincoln Gillian Merron criticising the Badman Review which called for stricter regulation of home schooled children.

This would include two four-hour interviews between the child and an assessor during the year and a final eight-hour assessment at the end of the year.

Parents who have opted to teach their children from home have said this is an unacceptable degree of intrusion.

Mother-of-two Karen Brennan said: "We are not against to some degree of registration or monitoring as we, like everyone else, want to make sure that every child gets a good standard of education.

"It is the extent of the intrusion and the accusations levelled in the report that we are protesting against."

The Badman Review, also known as the Review into Elective Home Education contains suggestions that home education is used as a cover for child abuse.

The children who would be affected by the report's recommendations are also against what it says.

Asha Matthan-Rogers, 12. who has been home schooled her whole life wrote to Gordon Brown outlining her concerns.

"We haven't been consulted about this and that makes me angry," she said.

"There is little or no evidence to support what has been said about abuse and I think it is wrong to accuse people with no facts to support it.

"I am very happy being home schooled and spending time with my parents and friends."