Homeschooling becomes more mainstream as registrations rise in Australia

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A record number of students won't be returning to the classroom next week. Home schooling registrations have skyrocketed across the country. Experts believe changing attitudes around education and family lifestyles are behind the shift.

Transcript

00:00The Lumbee family from Bundaberg start their day with exercise, before moving on to their

00:09school work with the help of both mum and dad.

00:13For kids it's quite hectic here.

00:16Now this place is not always tidy, however we are very clean.

00:22It's not always organised, but everyone knows their roles.

00:25Twelve year old Sylvia is reading over her subjects.

00:29She starts year seven next week.

00:31Maths, English, Business and Economics and Science, Arts and History.

00:39The content is supplied by an online provider.

00:42The curriculum we use is UCA and they've structured it where you have about three to four hours

00:48of schooling.

00:49That's a rough guide.

00:51They're among a growing number of families abandoning traditional classrooms.

00:56Across the country there would be around 45,000 homeschooling young people, but again

01:02the statistics aren't 100% accurate.

01:04Tina Smith from the Home Education Association says there are different requirements in every

01:10state and territory.

01:11It would be nice to have something that's a little bit more uniform, but different states

01:16run their own education systems.

01:19In Queensland homeschooling registrations have more than doubled in the past four years.

01:25Experts believe changing attitudes around education and lifestyle are the reasons why.

01:32Flexibility, travelling and spending time together are priorities for the Lumbee family.

01:39I think the main benefit that I see from it is that we're a tighter family and we really

01:46look out for each other.

Category

Transcript

Recommended