36 kids homeschooled

THIRTY-SIX children are being home schooled in the Western Education and Library Board (WELB).

Twenty per cent of home-schooled pupils in Northern Ireland are being educated in WELB.

Only in the Northern and Southern Education and Library Boards which both have 47 home schooled pupils are more parents taking education into their own hands.

Mr O’Dowd stated: “Parents can choose to home educate and there is no legal requirement for them to advise their Education and Library Board (ELB) or the Department of their decision.”

He explained that “the 36 notifications in WELB may have been made by parents, a child’s previous school, a Board’s Transfer Department or its Education Welfare Service.”

He stated: “The numbers being home educated fluctuate during the course of a year. Therefore, the figures provided by the ELBs reflect a snapshot in time on the date on which a request is made.”