Key points
- Homeschooling and online education has become more commonplace since the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The trend has been attributed to students having greater confidence with online learning, as well as teacher shortages that prompted some schools to cancel subjects.
- The number of Victorian students being homeschooled has grown 44 per cent since the pandemic began, and enrolments at Virtual School Victoria are up 20 per cent.
- Independent school Haileybury will launch the state’s first private online-only school next year.
- Research shows learning is a social activity and virtual conversations are compromised conversations, says education expert Peter Adams.
The number of Victorian children and teenagers being homeschooled has surged 44 per cent during the pandemic, new data shows, and more students are now choosing to study online.
Educators say greater student confidence with online learning, teacher shortages and an increase in mental health issues among children have led to a continued rise in studying at home.
The number of children learning online continues to grow in Victoria.Credit:iStock
Figures from the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority show there were 8733 Victorian students being homeschooled at the end of last year, a rise of 10 per cent on the previous year and 44 per cent since 2019.
Meanwhile, enrolments at Virtual School Victoria have grown about 20 per cent since 2019. More than 5400 primary and secondary students were enrolled last year at the government school formerly known as Distance Education Centre Victoria.
Many of those enrolments were from VCE students doing subjects unavailable in their schools. Those completing all subjects virtually include previous homeschoolers, elite athletes or artists, those living in regional or rural Victoria, people with medical conditions and travelling students.
VSV executive principal Fiona Webster said the recent enrolment growth had come about because more students had experienced social anxiety and other mental health challenges.
“For these students, virtual learning, at least for a period of time, is an important support.”
Other drivers included an expansion in VCE subjects offered and more families travelling after COVID-19 border restrictions eased, she said.
Separately, the Victorian Virtual Learning Network, which delivers online VCE subjects to government school students from across Victoria, has reported a 39 per cent growth in enrolments since the pandemic began.
Dale Pearce, principal of Bendigo Senior Secondary College, which runs the network, said teacher shortages had increased demand this year.
Dale Pearce, principal of Bendigo Senior Secondary College, says teacher shortages have increased demand for remote learning.
“Some of these have come during the year as teachers have quit the profession and schools have been unable to find replacements,” he said.
He said it seemed many students had grown more comfortable with online learning over the past two years of COVID disruptions.
”To succeed, online students need to be motivated and organised,” he said. “It’s not an engagement strategy, although 2020-2021 did show us that a small proportion of students prefer to learn in that way.”
High-fee independent school Haileybury is looking to meet a rise in demand by launching the state’s first private online-only school.
The school hopes to educate up to 300 students next year for single subjects, holiday programs and full-time at its online-only campus, Haileybury Pangea. Over time, it will accept up to 1500 students from years 5 to 12.
“While COVID-19 led to enforced online learning for all students in Victoria, Haileybury Pangea focuses on online learning as a choice, and provides students and their families with an alternate pathway to a high-quality education,” the school said.
”The move to remote learning due to the pandemic didn’t suit everyone. We are not saying that online learning suits every child – but there are students that Haileybury Pangea will absolutely suit.”
Education expert Peter Adams, who was senior manager for the OECD’s international Program for International Student Assessment in 2018, said research into how young people learned best clearly showed the importance of social engagement.
“Research also shows that virtual conversations in a group or one on one, even if well managed, are compromised conversations,” he said.
Mother Kimberley Jose and her children, Cade and Alannah. They switched to home learning last year.Credit:Simon Schluter
Victorian children are required to be in education between the ages of 6 and 17. While homeschooling numbers have grown for years, they remain a tiny percentage of Victoria’s student population of more than 1 million.
An Education Department spokesman said families who chose to home school must adhere to the regulator’s learning plans to ensure children receive a comprehensive education.
Melbourne mother Kimberley Jose and her husband switched to homeschooling their three primary school-aged children last year because of an unhappy experience with remote learning during lockdown and concerns about screen time.
Jose said the homeschooling community provided excellent opportunities for children, including camps and excursions. “I feel like it’s bigger than people realise,” she said.
In addition, she said homeschooling had given her family more freedom to travel and work. “We’re finding that we can fit education into our lives, as opposed to fitting our lives around the structured learning environment,” she said.
“Being business owners, sometimes we need to be in our businesses more, and we have the flexibility to do that because we can bring our children along and they can learn life skills.”
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