Did Tom Phillips case spark Government’s last-minute homeschool law change?
Less than a week after it was revealed the Ministry of Education approved Tom Phillips’ application to homeschool his family, last-minute changes have been made to an education bill.
Education Minister Erica Stanford this week announced several proposed changes to the Education and Training (System Reform) Amendment Bill after it had already passed its second reading in Parliament.
The amendments included “establishing clearer requirements for home education, including regulatory conditions to maintain exemptions from school enrolment”.
The proposed changes have been labelled “underhanded and undemocratic” by the national body for home educators.
It comes after the Herald revealed Phillips was given full permission by the ministry to homeschool his three children in the months before their disappearance.
In New Zealand, “certificates of exemption” from school are available through an online application on the ministry website, and usually remain valid until children reach 16 years old.
As with most applications, no ministry officials visited Phillips to assess his suitability as a safe and effective home educator, and instead they relied on his written assurances.
It is unclear if the recent amendment to the bill was a response to the Phillips revelation, which the ministry tried to keep secret by refusing the Herald’s Official Information Act request for months.
The ministry did not respond to the Herald’s question if the screening process was reviewed after the Phillips saga.
Sela Finau, Ministry of Education general manager learner success and Tiriti policy, told the Herald the process for approving certificates of exemption from regular schooling “remains the same”.
Finau said the proposed law changes would “strengthen oversight of home educating families to meet specific requirements to maintain their exemption from enrolment at a registered school”.
“Under the current system, when an exemption is granted for a student, it remains in place until that student turns 16. Home educating parents should be teaching students as regularly and as well as in a registered school. This might be achievable for a 6-year-old when an exemption is granted, for example, but becomes more challenging as students’ learning becomes more specialised and in-depth.
“The ministry has limited visibility to provide assurance that children are being taught as regularly and as well as in a registered school. ERO [Education Review Office] reviews only take place if a concern has been raised. There is a risk that a learner can receive a poor-quality education without an issue being raised.
“Any additional reporting requirements will enable the ministry to have more regular contact with families, providing more opportunities to consider whether children in home education are being taught as regularly and as well as in a registered school, and to take action if not.”
Home education body speaks out
National Council of Home Educators NZ government liaison Cynthia Hancox said the late changes are “underhanded and undemocratic”, while being “far too broad and open”.
“This has been introduced with no warning, no consultation with the home education sector despite attempts to meet with the minister and the ministry,” Hancox told the Herald.
“We have no information on what the proposed regulations would look like, whether they’ll be reasonable, unreasonable or whatever.
“The amendment opens the door to any future Government imposing any additional conditions or regulations that it wants to, bypassing a parliamentary process.”
Hancox said she is also concerned about the “inequity” of the proposed law changes.
“Because of the way the amendment is worded, if a family does not comply with whatever regulations might be introduced, the Secretary [of Education] has the power to revoke their homeschooling exemption.
“That would never happen to a school or a teacher if they didn’t write a report or their students failed an assessment or something. There might be an improvement plan in place, there might be support, there might be future reviews, that kind of thing.
“But the wording of the law with homeschoolers is you can either fail a homeschooling review, or you can not comply with whatever regulations – [and] we don’t know what they’re going to be – and have the right to teach your children summarily removed with no right of appeal. That is incredibly inequitable and incredibly stressful for families.”
Finau said “concerns shared by the sector will be considered before any regulations are finalised”.
“We recognise that home-educating families often take different approaches from those used in schools, and this will be reflected in the design of any reporting or assessment requirements.
“Consideration will also be given to the individual needs of students, including those with disabilities or who are neurodivergent.
“The Ministry of Education will consult the home education sector on the development of the regulations. This will be prior to the proposed commencement date of July 1, 2027, for the home education changes set out in the Education and Training (System Reform) Amendment Bill.”
Hancox believes the fact Phillips homeschooled his children is a “red herring”.
“Yes, Tom Phillips was a home educator and he had exemptions for his children, but that has nothing whatsoever to do with what happened subsequently.
“One thing has nothing to do with the other. So it is really a manipulation, if you like, of the situation around Tom Phillips to make it around homeschooling and to then suggest that says anything whatsoever about other homeschooling families.”