In late November the Department for Education issued a call for evidence on inspection of informal out-of-school education in England. DfE’s intention is to register and inspect

“… out-of-school education settings providing intensive tuition, training or instruction to children. The system we envisage is intended to avoid imposing unnecessary burdens on the great number of such settings which are positively enhancing children’s education. It would, however, enable action to be taken where settings are failing to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, which includes failing to protect them from the harm caused by extremism” [para 1.1].

‘Children’ means those under the age of nineteen; and (in brief) it is proposed to introduce some form of inspection and regulation where informal education operates for more than six hours a week. What seemed to trigger the proposal was concern about the teaching in some madrassas and a handful of informal religious classes run by ultra-Orthodox Jewish groups. DfE is particularly concerned about issues such as the use of corporal punishment – which is illegal in formal schools, whether they are run by the local authority, a faith group or independent. There are also concerns about health and safety issues. Continue reading →