There has been a 500 per cent increase in the number of parents wishing to home school their children in August and September, compared to the same time last year.
Much of the rise is associated with families reluctant to send their children back to school amid Covid-19 concerns, often as they have a member with an underlying condition who is considered at increased risk from the virus.
Official guidance says that only children at "very high risk" are entitled to remote learning, with all other students expected to return to school.
One mother from Dublin has made the decision to home school her two children, as she is classed as very high risk with Covid-19 due to her diagnosis with a form of blood cancer.
I’m trying to protect my own life, my children’s lives and I’m not being supported in it.
“We have felt so abandoned and so stressed by this situation,” Jan Rynne said.
“The HSE advice to people like me who are considered very high risk is that we take personal precautions and responsibility and that’s exactly what we’re trying to do.
“I’m trying to protect my own life, my children’s lives and I’m not being supported in it, and in fact my kids and other kids like them are slipping through the educational cracks.”
New figures from child and family agency Tusla show over a thousand families have made applications to be placed on the official home schooling register between August and September.
Tusla says the increase maybe due to a number of factors, including health concern surrounding the virus.
