Parents of most vulnerable children to lose automatic right to home education
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The right to home schooling will no longer be automatic for parents of the most vulnerable children under new government proposals. Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, will unveil a new bill in parliament on Tuesday - the same day that Sara Sharif's killers will be sentenced - that aims to address some of the safeguarding concerns prompted by the high-profile case.
Under the proposed legislation, the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, local councils will be given the power to intervene and demand school attendance if they deem a child's home environment unsuitable or unsafe. It will also remove the automatic right for parents to home-school their child if their child is subject to a protection investigation or is under a protection plan - meaning they are suspected of being at risk of significant harm.
New registers will also be brought in to identify children not in school, as well as unique identifier numbers to record any issues and prevent children from "falling through the cracks". Last week Sara's father, Urfan Sharif, and stepmother, Beinash Batool, were convicted of her murder.
Her uncle, Faisal Malik, 29, was convicted of causing or allowing her death, prompting the prime minister to say there were "questions that need to be answered" on protections for children. During the trial at the Old Bailey, prosecutors said Sara started wearing a hijab to hide her injuries and that she was taken out of school in April 2023 after teachers spotted bruises on her face and referred her to social services.
