Education is the right of every child

[Cheeseandolivesplease]

What should be done when this isn't the case? Perhaps when parents/carers don't support this right?
I've been in education (SEND Specialism) for well over twenty years and I still don't have the answers.
I am not referring to those parents with whom I absolutely emphasise - those parents that are trying their absolute best to get their child to school/a place of learning and I fully appreciate that mainstream isn't the right place for all learners.
But what about those who really don't try to facilitate any form of learning at the detriment of their child?
I wish I had the answers to make this right 😕

Can you be more specific about the sort of scenario you are referring to?

Surely the bigger issue is the state and schools failing to provide an education for every child?

An education is provided for every child. It may not be their ideal education but it is there.

Maybe schools should actually do something about bullying and bullies. Then more kids can go into school and actually learn rather than it being a source of huge stress and anxiety.

@mrsbowes Most definitely. I no longer work in mainstream as I disagree with a "one size fits all" approach.

It certainly isn't. Thousands of children are without school places.

@mrsbowes In cases in which it is deemed unsuitable for a child to access a mainstream setting, an alternative provision must be provided. This may be a tutor, or it may not even be in the form of traditional learning (equine therapy, for example).
But all of these still, to at least some extent, require the cooperation of a parent or guardian.

It should be provided.

@mrsbowes It is - I'm a part of it. I support and teach children (nearly always with an EHCP) who are deemed currently unable access to access mainstream provision. Funded by the LA.

AP should be provided to CSA pupils unable to attend school, but too often it isn’t unless the parents enforce the provision.

AP and EOTAS/EOTIS should not be reliant on the parents facilitating the provision. It is the LA’s responsibility.

@Twisterlollies sadly, education isn’t provided for all DC with SEN. It isn’t about it not being ideal.

I think about bigger problem is asking what the purpose of education is.

Is it joy of learning? Is it to train independence skills (to minimize the need for support?) Is it to prepare for the world of work?

And then Is that goal actually realistic.

I can entirely understandable why for some parents It's hard to get behind something that, in all formats, often fails epically in every stated aim.

It should be seen as neglect. But the state will only ever intervene in the most extreme of cases.

@scoopofmintchocchipicecream Absolutely. But what should happen if parent/guardian is not supportive of the alternative provision offered?

@Unexpectedlysinglemum What can the state do?

@Gingerbreadlattetoppingsontheside But ultimately, without any form of education or learning whatsoever, what are the job prospects of a child going forward?

Then the LA needs to look at why. Not in a way that attaches blame or judgement, but in a way that genuinely works towards an offer the child can engage with. There are numerous reasons and it is all too easy to just blame parents for not being supportive or cooperating.

Parents should be fully held to account for failing their child in that situation - and also in the many myriad situations where parents are neglectful, selfish and abusive etc.

Unfortunately it’s so widespread there aren’t enough support services or arbiters in society to mop it all up. Some children do lose out by being born to shit parents sadly.

@scoopofmintchocchipicecream But again, I'm referring to those parents who simply are not supportive of any sort of helping to facilitate any form of learning or education, despite every reasonable adjustment and opportunity to do so.

Ah! So does that mean the purpose of education is solely employability?!?!

Given the statistics for employment of adults with disabilities, do you think any current form of education is actually sucessful in that goal?

Worse if the education makes the child sad or the behaviour of the child harder for a parent carer to manage. Does it feel in any way surprising a parent doesn't support it?

@Screamingabdabz I guess the million dollar question is...how? How can they be held to account?

I feel a lot of the trouble with schools and education is that as a ‘system’ it hasn’t really moved with the times. It baffles me that despite 99.999% of the population never needing to know about Pythagoras or Pie that it’s still taught as a compulsory module. Why are kids not taught about life? About mortgages, money investments, about AI? About right and wrongs? Why in the UK is our education system particularly in maths and English focussed on medieval style learning? Education needs a re vamp because times have changed. I believe parents as a whole would be more invested in education if there was an end game or a point to it. I feel a lot of parents think education is just another form of childcare.

@GingerbreadlattetoppingsonthesideMany of the students I support are highly intelligent, inspiringly resilient, and, with the right support and learning/working environment, have absolutely every chance of being successful as adults (including in terms of employment).
What does education look like to you?

Even in such cases, attaching blame and judgement doesn’t help the child and LAs should look at why.

What LAs consider “every reasonable adjustment and opportunity” is often very far from the case. When LAs say any sort of help and any form of education, they very rarely actually mean ‘any’. Unless forced, more often they mean what they want to offer.

@BeMellowAquaSquid Alternative education doesn't necessarily involve these; they're certainly not things I routinely teach.
But if there is still non-attendance in any capacity...what then?

@scoopofmintchocchipicecream So you honestly believe there are no parents out there who are simply not interested in their child receiving an education of any description?
Kindly, that's not the real world.