The key piece
In determining whether to grant an exemption from some or all of a person’s work test obligations on the ground that subclause (2)(c)(ii) applies to the person, the chief executive may consider, among other things, whether— ”(a) there are particular needs )/ reasons that prevent the child from attending school (for example, the child has special needs or has been excluded or expelled from school):
“(b) there are other mitigating circumstances involved (for example, home schooling is a reasonable option because the nearest school is a significant distance away).”
What other mitigating circumstances should be considered ?
Are there mitigating circumstances for certain religious affiliations that are not taught at schools.
I would also question the old adage, the bus at the bottom of the hill. If some of these children had “better” schooling to start with and a more supportive home life they would possibly not be in the position of being expelled. Why would some (definately not saying all) of these parents suddenly be keen on Homeschooling. Could this also mean that I move (isolate) in order to continue Homeschooling.
How about the child having been a victim of bullying at school?
If the child has life-threatening allergies to unusual foods or plants (other than the usual nut or dairy allergies)?
Giftedness, which brings with it all the difficulty of fitting in with a class.
Or would it be better to just go with the phrase “among other things,” as is already in the clause?
Bullying, primary immunodeficiency, previous head injury, inability to attend even one full week at school due to illness, giftedness, slow processing, emotional vulnerability, anxiety, just to name a few- basically the reasons why homeschooling is NOT a choice for some of us but a necessity if we are going to produce confident young people with a reasonable level of education, a good work ethic and the chance to succeed.
The new law rolls over existing exemptions granted under section 105. However, this could change at any time so I suggest emailing Paula Bennett.
Details at http://mandenomusings.wordpress.com/2010/08/19/welfare-reforms-will-backfire/
Recent seperation is certainly a mitigating circumstance. If a child is being home-schooled and there is a seperation in the family, that alone is enough of a disruption to the child. To then have to intergrate a home schooled child into the school system could be quite devasting for the child. A child from a split family needs the love and support and security of their home enviroment rather than more change.
Tracy beat me to it, but that was exactly why I continued homeschooling when the kid’s dad left. They had been uprooted from their original city of birth, their home, their dad was now gone, they just didn’t need anymore changes. I would not like to see only a short time allowed for the homeschooling to be continued either, so not necessarily limited to ‘recent’ separation – that could have our kids losing out on the advantages of homeschooling when their family change happened more than a year ago, or more than 6 months ago etc. Change in family circumstances at all prior to the parent ending up on the dpb where the children had been homeschooled before should not deprive our children from receiving the standard of education we can achieve with homeschooling.
A child who has never been to school and is now a young adult (14 yrs) is placed at serious risk of emotional unstability if he is forced to go to school against his will. He does not know the school culture and would desperately try to fit in with other school students all the while standing out like a sore thumb because he is different. An easy target for students looking for someone to pick on, bully or denegrade. This besides the fact that material learned while homeschooling is likely to be of completely different substance from that learned by the school students. Academically and socially he is likely to struggle not because homeschooling is inadequate but because the state school system is an institution far removed from what provides and encourages normal, healthy thinking and behaviour patterns.