They make for interesting reading. There is much I could say about them - my own printed copies are covered in notes. For now, I want to make these available for all home educators to read, rather than wait until I have time to speak to them in detail. Just a few points I will mention:

• The cover letter notes that in response to the audit, the Ministry is working on updating the home education application forms and guidance for parents, and outlines some of what they will be looking for. This is a work in progress; new forms will be released in the coming months. 
• It also notes that the Ministry is considering centralising assessment of applications to a national team - this is still being investigated but looking increasingly likely to happen. Doing so may overcome a number of the issues identified in the audit, particularly around consistency of processes and proper handling of related documents. 
• The documents refer to a Chief Court Judge raising concerns in 2022 around "the increased number of home-educated child harm cases that were coming through the court and questioned the Ministry's role in these cases." There is no indication of just how many such cases there are, or had previously been, and how they compare proportionately to the number of children in school who are harmed, not whether home education itself was actually a factor in the harm that was considered to have occurred. This Judge's enquiry is purportedly the whole reason for the internal audit to begin with. And this is where the questions about home educated child "health, safety and well-being" begin. 
• The documents also keep referring to "equitable and excellent outcomes" - this is a catch-phrase from the Ministry of Education's Statement of Intent 2021-2026 which sets out the purposes and expectations for the education system, coming out of Chris Hipkin's 2018 onwards consultation process for overhauling the education system. 
• The "terms of reference" document for the audit mentions a range of matters that they wanted to look at. They considered the engagement important because of the 81% increase in home educators (as of 2023) since 2017, and the $9.3m budget allocation (that's for supervision allowances). Notably they don't pay attention to the fact that those same children, if in state schools, would account for $126m in per student funding. 
• As part of the audit, they looked at a sample of approved exemption applications. Given that there are some 2,300 applications approved each year, a statistically significant sample size would be 330 applications. However, the Ministry only looked at 13! And note that for 3 of those, the records requested could not be found, and for a further 6 some records were missing or incomplete. Yet it is based upon those 13 that they drew various conclusions. 
• One of their chief concerns is the lack of "visibility or routine monitoring" of the "presence, participation and progress of home educated children." Though from much of the language, it seems the Ministry is more concerned with its own reputation and risk, than the actual students themselves. Anyway, this sits behind recommendations to review how the Ministry tracks learning and progress for home educated students. 
• Their other chief concern is around "well-being" - essentially coming down to whether the "learning environment" is suitable and recommending that they should "include an assessment of the home educator's dwelling" as part of the exemption criteria. There are problems galore with this idea! It likely deserves an entire blog post of its own. 

These two chief concerns obviously, in hindsight, sit behind much of the RIS and the Minister's proposed legislative changes. At least we now have that information and can speak to it as part of our on-going engagement with the Ministry and Minister before any new draft legislation emerges. 

Each of these documents is a PDF and should open in a new window when clicked on. I encourage every home educator to read them for themselves. 

However, note that these were written 2 years ago, and while they do sit behind some of the ongoing work that is happening, there have been significant staff changes and restructuring in the meantime, and the implementation of any "ideas" presented in reports always comes down to resourcing (ie funding) and Ministerial priorities. Just because the Ministry has made certain recommendations to themselves or the Minister in any given report, doesn't mean that is what will actually happen. So please do not be overly alarmed by any particulars. 

In July 2017, then-Opposition spokeman for education, Chris Hipkins, announced a number of proposed changes or review of the education system which Labour would act upon if elected. The mention of "home-based educators" included there sent ripples of concern through the home education community. Today our Labour-led government, via Mr Hipkins, now Minister for Education, formally announced the beginning of those proposed reviews. Again, families are concerned about what this might mean for home educators. Let's take a closer look:

The last several governments have been keen on promoting the value of "early childhood education" especially via Early Childhood Education centres, and Labour is no different. All children ages 3, 4 & 5 in NZ are entitled to up to 20 hours a week of ECE funding, paid for by the government. That funding is the primary way in which the government funds ECE in NZ. 

As an alternative to ECE in facilities such as a kindergarten, some parents prefer home-based ECE services, where their children are cared for and educated in a family home with a small number of other young children (5 or less), allowing for more personal attention and a more family-like atmosphere. Providers of such services can still be paid the ECE 20 hour per child funding, so long as they meet the government's criteria to have a licensed home-based ECE service.

Because the government is paying for these services, they have the right to set out certain criteria. 

What Mr Hipkins and the Labour government have proposed is to review home-based early childhood education services, and investigate the introduction of minimum qualifications levels for these educators. 

In the wording of all documents, announcements etc, it has been clear that they are referring to the providers of home-based ECE services, rather than to home educators in general (ie homeschoolers). Where the term "home-based educators" is used, it is within the context of a heading or section specifically stating it is about "the review of home-based early childhood education," such as on page 21 of this Cabinet document on the reviews being sought. 

​This review is also not targeted only at home-based ECE providers; ECEs in general will be reviewed, and incentives given to thos who employ only fully qualified teachers. There are also a number of other parts to the review, such as reviewing NCEA, the Tomorrow's Schools policies that have underpinned the education system since 1989 and so forth. 

In so far as I have seen, there has been nothing whatsoever that indicates an intention to review home education policies. Home education/homeschooling is certainly not mentioned at all in the Cabinet proposal or any documents so far released. 

The short answer is we don't know. During the lead up to the elections, Chris Hipkins submitted thousands of written questions to the then-Minister of Education Hekia Parata on a range of matters. Within those many, many questions were only 7 connected to home education. They were (summarised):

• What criteria does the MoE use to assess home education applications?
• How many home education applications have been approved in the last 5 years?
• How many applications have been declined in the last 5 years?
• Why were they declined?
• How many home educated students have been directed to attend a registered school because they were not meeting the required standards in the last 5 years?
• What checks, if any, does the MoE make on the quality of education being provided for home educated students?
• What checks, if any, does the MoE make on the physical environment and safety of home educated students?

All of these questions were answered (some not very accurately). What Mr Hipkins or his party made of the answers or intend to do with them, if anything, remains unknown. 

What we do know, though, is that so far our current government have not released any statements or information that indicate an intention to review home education. I believe that they have so many other aspects of education to focus on at present that they are unlikely to do so in the near future. Keep in mind that at around 0.7% of the total student population, home educators are, to the government's mind, small in number and therefore not all that important. 

A new government which is seeking to consolidate it's position in its first term is unlikely to focus much time or resources on relatively insignificant matters. 

Previously, less than favourable changes for home educators have been instigated by NZ First while in co-power, and of course we once again have NZ First in government together with Labour. However, the current Associate Minister for Education, Tracey Martin (NZ First), herself a former home educator, responded (as Deputy Leader and Education Spokesperson for NZ First) to the Home Education Foundation's request to each party for their position on home education in 2014 by saying: 
"At this time the New Zealand First Manifesto is silent in the area of Home Schooling. The reason for this is that no member of the Home Schooling community approached us over the last three years to inform us of any difficulties or areas of concern/improvement. New Zealand First does not create policy without first having a relationship with those to be directly affected by that policy.
Having Home Schooled one of our sons for a period of time I have a working understanding of the current environment under which the parents and students you represent are working."

NZ First was also shown in the Family First's brochure on election issues to support parental choice for education.
​
Nothing in their 2017 manifesto suggested any change.

As a sidenote of possible interest, Tracey Martin has written all the education policy for NZ First since 2008. She is currently one of three Associate Ministers of Education, so has certain areas of responsbility, one of the chief being Learning Support (Special Ed). THIS is a very interesting interview with her. 

On the one hand, there is nothing to be concerned about in regards to the intended review of home-based ECE educators, as that has nothing to do with home education. 

HOWEVER, we do need to remain alert, informed, wise and responsive. Any government can make decisions that DO affect home educators. If we do not keep ourselves informed, and respond appropriately, we may miss the opportunity to take action to protect our rights and freedoms as home educating parents. 

I recommend the following:

• READ the Cabinet paper on the current review so you know what the proposals and intentions are, HERE
• Be CONNECTED to other home educators in ways which increase the likelihood of you being informed of issues that arise. For example, joining NCHENZ (free) means you will receive a quarterly newsletter. You can also join their Facebook page. There are numerous NZ home ed Facebook groups - some general, and some special interest. And then there are regional support groups and networks. 
• CHECK FACTS via a reliable source before reacting to an "issue" though - sometimes well meaning people misunderstand something and lots of speculation and worry can be rife unnecessarily.
• REMAIN AWARE of announcements, news articles and so forth related to education, and if you see something that could affect home education, then check the facts and discuss with experienced home educators. Let NCHENZ know if there is something of concern that needs to be investigated or addressed.
• SUPPORT the people who are proactively working to promote the interests of home educators. The NCHENZ committee, including myself, and Todd Roughton of Homeschooling NZ are some of the key ones who come to mind, along with those people within some regional groups who are liasing with the regional MoE offices. (More regional liaisons are needed - talk to me if you're interested!)
• PLAY YOUR PART by being aware of your rights and responsibilities as a home educator, and acting in a way that reflects well on the whole home education community. (More on this in a future post)
• STEP UP when called upon - if NCHENZ or another reliable home education source inform you of issues that need to be addressed and actions to take, please do your part. 

Enjoy the freedom you have to home educate your children. But never take it for granted! Remember, a lot of the freedom you now have is there because those who went before you did these things, without the benefit of the internet.