Huge spike in Victorian kids being homeschooled after Covid

More Victorian kids are being homeschooled than ever before with Covid shutdowns and flexible study arrangements behind the switch.

Mohammad Haseeb Kahn, 13, started homeschooling full-time this year and wants to continue remote learning for the rest of his education. Picture: David Caird

The number of Victorian students being homeschooled has doubled in the past five years, new figures reveal.

According to the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority’s (VRQA) most recent annual report, released on Tuesday, there were 4743 primary and secondary students who completed their entire education remotely in 2016.

Last year, 8733 students were registered for homeschooling in Victoria.

Remote learning registrations have spiked 66 per cent in the last year, with 6836 students homeschooled in 2021.

Victoria mirrors a national trend, with Euka Learning, Australia’s biggest online education provider, reporting a 170 per cent spike in student numbers compared with last year.

Queensland alone has seen a 69 per cent increase in registrations with the online provider.

Mohammad studies in his room under the watchful eye of his mother Ayesha Khan. Picture: David Caird

Euka chief executive Jarryd Van Poppel said remote learning is becoming increasingly popular with more mainstream students because it offered flexibility for both parents and students in the wake of the pandemic.

“They’re no longer tied to the regimented structure of the 9 to 3 school day and can plan whatever extra-curricular activities they like,” he said.

“Covid-19 and the forced shutdown of schools gave families a taste of homeschooling and it would seem as if they liked it, despite the situation in which it was thrust upon them.”

It comes after figures from the Home Education Network showed that just 10,000 Australian children were homeschooled a decade ago. That figure sat at about 27,000 last year.

Victoria recorded one of the biggest surges in home learning in that time, second only to NSW.

Euka’s founder Ellen Brown said home learning allowed students with particular interests or paths to professional careers to tailor their schedules to other commitments without missing important lesson content.

“A child could be thriving in the mainstream school system in 2022 but their parents might still opt to homeschool them to give them their best shot at going onto a professional career in music or sports or E-sports,” she said.

“It just allows them to invest their precious time and energy into endeavours they believe will serve them best in adult life.”

Hampton Park mother Ayesha Khan began homeschooling her son, Mohammed Haseeb, 13, in term two this year with Euka curriculum so he could dedicate more time to his religious studies.

Mohammed with his parents, Ayesha and Saud, and sisters Mirha, 6, and Suha, 10. Picture: David Caird

She said Mohammed at times missed learning alongside his friends at his former school, but remote learning allowed him to study at his own pace, and he now catches up with his friends outside of school.

“He can now study civics and citizenship, which he couldn’t do at his old school,” she said.

“There are no specific deadlines and if you don’t understand something, you can dedicate more time to it and work at it. I supervise him for science, maths and English and we set up our own timetable for the day.”

Under Victorian regulations, children must attend mainstream school until their guardian’s registration is approved.

Parents must submit a learning plan to the state regulator, which outlines how they will cover the key learning areas: English, maths, science, humanities and social sciences, the arts, languages, health and physical education, information and communication technology and design and technology.

The VRQA refused just 10 homeschooling applications this year.