Why there has been a rise in Bay of Plenty parents turning to homeschooling for education

The Ministry of Education received 293 homeschooling applications last year. Photo / Getty Images

Home-learning success in lockdown, vaccine mandates and concerns for immunocompromised children are just some of the factors that have contributed to the "swell" of Bay parents opting to homeschool their children.

Ministry of Education figures show the number of applications from parents wanting to homeschool their children has almost doubled since 2019 in the Bay of Plenty-Waiariki region.

In 2019, there were 158 applications received in the region with 145 of those approved. Last year, there were 209 applications made to the ministry and only 15 were not approved.

As of December 7, there had been 293 applications made but only 175 had been approved. Data was live and therefore subject to change.

The ministry said to gain approval, applications must satisfy that children would be taught "as regularly and as well" as they would be in a registered school.

For children with special needs, the application must show these needs would be met.

Cheryl Lescheid supports parents through the homeschooling application process. Photo / Andrew Warner

Cheryl Lescheid has been homeschooling her three children since 2010, with one now attending Rotorua Lakes High School.

The Canadian qualified teacher, who has been living in New Zealand for four years, works to support prospective homeschoolers to prepare Ministry of Education applications.

Lescheid said in October she started to notice a slight increase in interest from parents looking into homeschooling. This was followed by "a swell" of inquiries in November.

"What we noticed is a lot of people saying they are considering homeschooling their children next year and they would like some questions answered."

Some parents wanted help preparing applications to submit to the ministry in the hope their children would make the switch to homeschooling at the start of next year.

Lescheid put the increase in inquiries down to a mixture of reasons including lockdown-style learning suiting some families.

"People have had a taste and they want to try it a little more seriously."

Others were concerned for their children who had compromised immunity and wanted to avoid exposure to Covid-19.

Some were worried about vaccine mandates and mask wearing in educational spaces.

"There are people with health concerns for their children who don't want them in masks all day. That one is as big a factor as those who are concerned about the jab and those that are concerned with their kids being with unvaccinated students."

She said parents had been turning to homeschooling for years when their children had negative social experiences at school, and school could not meet their learning needs.

"We hear that story over and over again," she said.

Lescheid said lockdowns had helped homeschooling "gain a lot of trend" due to a lack of learning disruptions.

"People could suddenly see the homeschoolers weren't freaking out. We were in charge of our own programmes and we already had all our curriculum in place. Our kids just carried on as if nothing had really changed.

"A lot of us participate in community programmes and that all came to a grinding halt, but the general schoolwork was completely uninterrupted."

She said the method of learning was starting to prove itself "more and more" as a viable pathway to a good future.

Western Bay of Plenty Principals Association president Suzanne Billington said schools had noticed a growing number of families switch to homeschooling over the past two years. Photo / George Novak

Western Bay of Plenty Principals Association president Suzanne Billington said schools had noticed a growing number of families switch to homeschooling over the past two years.

"Parents have chosen to have their children learn from home due to what they perceive as their vulnerability to Covid-19 on our school sites."

But recently, she said the choice to homeschool had been for a "further range of reasons".

"Some have been more nervous around the Covid Delta strain in schools, as they perceive this as being more contagious."

There had also been concerns about unvaccinated students over 12 being treated differently from their classmates who were vaccinated, she said.

She worried this could affect children aged 5 to 12 when the vaccine is rolled out for that age bracket.

Unvaccinated students would not be able to take part in educational experiences outside of the classroom depending on vaccination requirements of different venues, she said.

Parents of unvaccinated students may perceive this as their children not being treated the same as vaccinated classmates, she said.

"Schools at this stage are unsure as to just how many parents will choose homeschooling for this reason in the new year."

Billington said it was important to keep in mind that all children - vaccinated and unvaccinated - were able to attend school.

Home education adviser Cynthia Hancox works with parents nationwide to support them through the homeschool application process.

Hancox, who is also the co-government liaison for the National Council of Home Educators New Zealand, said she saw a sharp increase in inquiries from October to December.

"My workload is crazy. Typically at this time of year, I get a slowdown in inquiries. It hasn't slowed down like normal. I am booked out into February for helping people with their applications.

"It is at a level I have never seen before."

She believed medical vulnerability, vaccine mandates, and lockdown learning success played a part in the rising interest in homeschooling.

Ministry operations and integration leader Sean Teddy said they had heard the increase in some homeschooling applications related to whānau who found that home learning during lockdowns worked well and they would prefer to continue with it.

Teddy said there were also concerns about immunocompromised whānau and some people who have children with additional learning and wellbeing needs who enjoyed learning at home.

But it generally did not record reasons for homeschooling applications, he said.