why doesn't the gov pay the parents to home educate if they want to?

[tinselwreath]

I just have a question as I'm curious what people think here since there is the obstacle of closing primary schools to keep virus numbers down.

Why doesn't the government offer the pupil funding to the parent instead? This could be completely voluntary but considering there is about £3750 attached to each primary school pupil, they could give this directly to parents at around £300+ per month for each child and not include this in universal credit calculation to make it more lucrative. Plenty of parents would probably choose not to send their children in and it would leave more space for rotas/social distancing for the parents who cannot take the pupil funding option instead. This shouldn't cost anymore money because it is simply taking the money that the school would receive and giving it to the parent.

The other alternative is working mums will be dropped from employment en masse as their kids are continuously sent home.

Er, no, the other alternative for many families would be both parents work reduced hours.

So you want to take away funding from schools and increase NHS spending on HV’s to carry out safeguarding. Bravo OP I think you can expect a call from Matt and Rishi any day now

I do not believe that all parents who would pull their kids out of school are anywhere near capable of providing a proper education (particularly without school provided resources). Teachers spend a lot of time training, rough out their career not just at the start. What on earth makes you thinks that just anyone can just pick up and teach properly. In addition valuable social development for the children will be lost. When home educating in normal times, there are plenty of ways to develop social skills, however during the pandemic, schools are really the only place this can properly happen.

In regards to safeguarding, no video calls would not be any sort of a substitute. It's hard enough to spot signs and issues in person, via a call will put many more children in danger.

As for the gilead comment..... this scheme would end up keeping many women out of the workplace, and considering its a very small monthly sum it will be those women who already have less options open to them who will see themselves disadvantaged. You will not get women with good careers stopping work for a tiny fraction of their salary, it will be the low paid women (and some men but unfortunately caring is still seen as a women's job in the majority of cases).

How would the parents know what to teach their children?

Schools should be gearing up to deliver more online education - you need proper teaching by proper teachers. Covering the costs to families of parents not being able to work full time because of kids being home is a completely separate (but important) issue,

Without it being law, there is no way that hours of work will be reduced. The most likely thing is that women will not be working anymore.

You’re a card, aren’t you, OP?

If this was in AIBU I think, judging from the responses, you'd have a pretty resounding YABU from the majority of posters.

Health Visitors would not have the capacity to carry out the safeguarding - equally social services are overstretched as it is.

Honestly OP, the idea doesn't have any merit other than in your head,

women will not be working anymore

So men can't home school their DC?

This is the most mental thread I have come across. On so many levels.

Absolutely batshit crazy

You can easily get the curriculum online ginandtoniconit. TBF, there's stacks of fabulous home ed resources and online classes out there now, in line with the curriculum, since covid.

What do you suggest the teachers live on? How will schools pay their bills? Those bills dont stop just because the schools are shuts.

The money won't even go to their education. It will be used by the parents to supplement or replace their lost income. Kids will miss out. Kids will not be taught.

Some parents were amazing at home schooling. Some did fuck all.

This is the most stupid thing I've read on here. Well done OP; that's quite an achievement.

@GinAndTonicOnIt

Thats actually not untrue. It is women who have have suffered most with dealing with schools being closed. It is women who are risking being left behind in the workplace. This is an issue for polictians at the moment.

"Safeguarding could be solved via video calls with health visitors."

Health visitors don't work with school aged children.

I'm not even going to give you head space- it's fucking ridiculous, for all the reasons PP have said and many, many more. So the hours and hours and hours of teaching online, producing resources and marking during the lockdown were worth less than a random parent with a ' How to pass for dummies' guide? Where there is will there is not always a way. FFS.

Women always suffer when it comes to work, welcome to the real world. Suggesting those women be compensated is like end of the world to the cult mind on here.

Safeguarding can't really be resolved by online video calls tbh. You can only see what's in front of the screen, nothing else. Safeguarding has been a huge challenge with covid.

This has to be the most stupid thread I've ever read on here do you realise it takes a teacher 4+ years to train? What makes you believe you are as good or better? What about all the parents that would take the option and have their child sat at home on watching tv all day and eating coco pops?

You are utterly insane and I think I speak for 90% of the parents throughout the pandemic that wanted to rip out their own eyeballs trying to homeschool their kids

I have no issue with supporting women to remain in work. Giving them a paltry couple of hundred a month to take on full and absolute responsibility for a child’s education is not really supporting women to remain in work is it?

The schools are open though tinselwreath. I don't think chucking money at the parents is the answer. That money is for the child's education. It can't be used to compensate the parent.

@Kaliorphic

You can easily get the curriculum online ginandtoniconit. TBF, there's stacks of fabulous home ed resources and online classes out there now, in line with the curriculum, since covid.

Getting the curriculum is one thing. How many parents would understand all of it? And how many would be able to teach it? And how many kids will actually take tuition properly from their parents?

How would this work for kids doing GCSEs? I can help my daughter with Spanish but stick a science book in front of me & I’m as much use as a chocolate teapot!
What about when she goes back & the other parents couldn’t help with Spanish but were good at physics?
The classes would be all over the place & it would be impossible for the teachers

Well indeed Errol. I'm not suggesting for a moment that all parents are capable of home educating. I was just pointing out that there are resources available.

I've read some batshit suggestions on this site recently....but I think you need to win top prize for the most batshit idea of them all.

Parents have been providing education to primary aged children for hundreds of years and our ancestors survived. Stop with the histrionics.

You can easily get the curriculum online ginandtoniconit. TBF, there's stacks of fabulous home ed resources and online classes out there now, in line with the curriculum, since covid.

I've seen many a trainee teacher have the most amazing resources at their finger tips. But then balls up the delivery so badly the students end up more confused than they were in the first place. Watching my husband and non teacher friend try to teach was awful. Teaching isn't easy.