Unusual education in turbulent times: Covid lockdowns, home educators and the unequal opening of education in Australia.

Moir, Leah; English, Rebecca

Home educators are one of the fastest growing educational movements in Australia, and one of the most misunderstood. In this paper, we examine policies affecting the school and home education populations to see if Covid health policy mandating the closure of public life during the 2020 outbreak was borne by both groups equitably. We find, rather than equitably affecting all young people, restrictions disproportionally fell onto the home educated who experienced between 100 and 200 longer days of restrictions than their schooled peers. We argue that, for educational equity to be experienced by all students in Australia, consideration needs to be given to the home educated who are a growing cohort and may experience more vulnerabilities due to their complex needs.

AUSTRALIA; STAY-at-home orders; YOUNG adults; EDUCATORS; EDUCATIONAL equalization; HOME schooling; HEALTH policy; COVID-19

Pacific-Asian Education Journal, 2022, Vol 33, Issue 1, p59

1019-8725

Academic Journal