There were 10,757 children in homeschooling in mid-2024. File photo. Photo: 123RF
A recent surge in children being homeschooled looks as if it is here to stay.
Education Ministry figures showed enrolments remained relatively stable in the past three years, after a rapid rise in 2020-2022.
At the middle of last year there were 10,757 children in homeschooling, about the same as in 2023 and not much less than 2022's all-time high of 10,899.
Prior to the pandemic, homeschooling enrolments were increasing by 200-300 each year and in 2019 there were 6573 enrolments.
That rose to 7192 in 2020 and 7749 in 2021, before jumping to the 2022 peak.
The ministry's figures showed 1969 pupils entered homeschooling last year and 1989 left.
"The most common age at entry (the mode) was 6, with 37.9 percent of those starting being 6 years old. The mean average age at entry was 9.0 years old, with 61.3 percent aged 9 or under, and 0.8 percent were aged 16 or above.
"Of the students finishing homeschooling during the year ending 1 July 2024, 24.5 percent had been in homeschooling less than a year, 54.4 percent had been in homeschooling for 1 to 5 years, and 7.4 percent had been in homeschooling for 10 years or more," the ministry's report on the figures said.
The figures showed 63 percent of homeschooled students last year were aged 12 or younger and 72 percent were Pākehā/European while 16 percent were Māori.
Auckland had 2441 homeschooled children last year, 23 percent of the national total, while Canterbury had 1492 and Waikato 1199.
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