MORE needs to be done to monitor children being educated at home and ensure that they are safe and receiving adequate education, a Ceredigion councillor has said.

Cllr Alun Lloyd Jones has called for the Welsh Government to introduce regulation to ensure home schooled children do not fall through gaps in the system.

And he accused the Welsh Government of dragging its feet after the issue was first raised by Cllr Jones and Cllr Paul Hinge around four years ago.

The two councillors wrote to the Welsh Government outlining their concerns over the lack of information and monitoring that takes place with home schooled children, with further letters having been sent by Ceredigion County Council.

However, Cllr Jones said there had been little or no progress since then.

He said: “We were asking about home education and how it could be monitored. One of our concerns was that if a parent doesn’t feel able to teach, for example, maths, they may pay someone to come in and teach it, but is that person being vetted?"

A Welsh Government spokesperson said guidance for councils was due to be released. They said: “We plan to publish new non-statutory guidance on elective home education for local authorities later this year."

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