Covid and digital technology have impacted decisions by families resulting in the number of pupils who are being home schooled in East Lothian has quadrupling over the last decade.
East Lothian Council saw 58 young people registered for home schooling during the last school year with an additional 24 additional support needs (ASN) youngsters also learning at home.
The figure compared to just 13 children during the 2015/16 year when the number of ASN pupils at home was so low it was not made publicly available.
A recent FOI revealed that the number of ASN youngsters learning at home was too low to be made public, in case individuals were identified, right up until the second year of Covid in 2022/23 when it was confirmed the families of 11 pupils opted for home learning.
The number of mainstream pupils who were home educated was in the teens in the five years prior to the pandemic and the first lockdown when it rose from 19 to 30 over the 2020/21 year.
Since then it has gone up year on year rising to 58 young people over the last school year – up from 43 the previous year.
A spokesperson for East Lothian Council said the numbers were affected by the growing population in the county as well as a growing confidence of parents and carers to provide schooling in the homes.
They said: “While the overall number of families in East Lothian choosing to home educate is relatively small overall, the change in recent years has coincided with an increased population locally, including a rise in the number of children with additional support needs.
“We also recognise that advances in digital resources – alongside experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic – have given some families greater confidence to support learning at home.”
The number of ASN youngsters receiving home schooling was not made public in the years before 2022 because of the small number.
Responding to a Freedom of Information request made public for the home schooling figures up to 2023/24, the council explained: “East Lothian Council is a small, rural authority with close knit communities. The number of children involved are so low that we fear releasing this detail would lead to the identification of the individuals concerned.”
By Marie Sharp Local Democracy Reporter
