Defending alternative education and parental rights
Parents rally against the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill: Defending alternative education and parental rights #ChildrensWellbeingBill
Parents are set to gather on 8th March 2025 in Bedford Street, Exeter (and major cities across England, including London, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham). This coordinated rally aims to protest the proposed bill. This deeply concerning piece of legislation threatens educational freedoms and prioritises data collection over children's actual well-being.
The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill (CWSB) is being presented as a measure to improve child welfare and educational standards. However, it has raised serious concerns among parents, home educators, and civil liberties advocates, who argue that it represents a significant overreach by the government. Critics fear that it undermines parental rights, restricts educational choice, and expands state control over family life.
The bill, introduced in late 2024 in the wake of Sara Sharif’s death, seeks to implement stringent regulations on alternative education. It marks a dangerous shift in education policy, handing excessive power to local authorities while reducing parental rights. Instead of protecting children, it enables unwarranted state intervention in family life, potentially overriding parents' decisions about their children's education and welfare.
The heartbreaking death of Sara sent shockwaves across the nation, leaving an enduring sense of grief and anger. However, the aftermath of this tragedy has seen the government and media exploit Sara’s story to unfairly target the home education community, perpetuating harmful misconceptions while neglecting the true systemic failures that led to her untimely death. Sara’s death has been wielded as a tool to further an agenda, positioning home education as the scapegoat in a narrative riddled with inaccuracies. Sara was known to social services before she was even born, and her abuse was reported while she was still in school. Despite being on every at-risk register, the systems designed to protect her failed at every turn. This tragedy had absolutely nothing to do with home education. Suggesting otherwise is not only incorrect but deeply unjust to the thousands of families who choose home education as a safe and nurturing alternative to a failing school system. If existing protections did not prevent Sara’s death, how would a Children Not In School (CNIS) register make any difference?
The Victoria Climbié Foundation has pointedly stated:
“Sara Sharif was not a hidden child – she was known to the authorities. As in the tragic case of Victoria Climbié, she simply fell through the gaps and was failed by services involved in her life. Concerns had been raised and seemingly not acted upon within a multi-agency framework.”
(VCF statement, 16 December 2024)
At first glance, the bill - along with its coverage in the news and on government sites - may seem like a positive step towards protecting children. However, take a closer look at the additional measures being quietly included. These are the ones we must raise awareness of and take action against.
Key issues with the bill:
Erosion of parental rights
- The bill introduces mandatory local authority registration for home-educated children, treating all parents as if they pose potential risks to their own children.
- Parents may need government consent to withdraw their children from school in certain cases, infringing on their ability to choose the best educational path for their family.
- School Attendance Orders (SAOs) would allow authorities to force children into school, even if their alternative education is suitable and effective.
- By granting local authorities increased control over educational choices, the bill undermines the legal right of parents to choose suitable education paths for their children, as enshrined in Section 7 of the Education Act 1996.
Threat to educational freedom
- The bill imposes state-approved education standards on home educators, restricting alternative models like child-led learning and faith-based education.
- Local authorities could gain the power to approve or reject a family's home education plan, shifting the decision-making authority away from parents.
- Academies would be forced to follow the National Curriculum, limiting flexibility in teaching approaches and reducing innovation in education.
Government surveillance and data collection
- The bill proposes consistent identifiers for children across multiple agencies, raising concerns about mass tracking and long-term data collection.
- Increased data-sharing powers between social services, education authorities, and law enforcement risk wrongful intervention, unnecessary state intrusion, and privacy breaches.
- Critics warn that this could normalise government monitoring of family life, setting a dangerous precedent for future overreach.
Criminalisation of parents
- Parents who fail to comply with registration or attendance orders could face fines or even legal penalties, punishing those who choose alternative education.
- Financial oversight and restrictions on private education providers may reduce the availability of independent schools, forcing families into state-mandated educational pathways.
- The bill shifts the burden of proof onto parents, requiring them to justify their educational methods rather than trusting that families know what is best for their children.
A step too far?
While child protection and educational improvements are important, opponents argue that the CWSB takes a heavy-handed approach that prioritises state control over family autonomy. By expanding government oversight into home education, the bill risks:
- Alienating responsible parents who provide a high-quality education at home.
- Criminalising home education and creating unnecessary barriers for families.
- Turning local authorities into enforcers rather than supporters of educational choice.
The bill represents an unprecedented intrusion into family life. While framed as a child protection measure, it expands state power at the expense of families, paving the way for a dangerous system of government surveillance, forced schooling, and punitive measures against parents.
We need to:
✔ Stop forced schooling – The Government should support families, not threaten them with school attendance orders.
✔ Protect privacy – Children’s data should not be collected and shared across agencies without consent.
✔ Defend educational choice – Parents should be free to decide how and where their child is educated.
Take action:
- Write to your MP and express your concerns.
- Spread the word on social media using hashtags: #ChildrensWellbeingBill #AreYouListeningNow
- Attend rallies and protests to stand against government overreach in education.
The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill poses a fundamental threat to parental rights and educational freedom. Now is the time to speak out and ensure that families remain in control of their children's education, free from unnecessary government interference.
Useful links concerning the bill.
