Home schooling should not be given a free hand to grow, the Malta Union of Teachers believes, raising concern over the spread of extremist ideologies.

MUT president Kevin Bonello says he disagrees with the notion of home schooling on the basis that parents do not agree with the school’s philosophy.

“We are not against home tuition for children who have a medical condition that prevents them from attending school for a stretch of time… but we have to guard against allowing extremist views of any religious denomination taking root,” he says.

He notes that in the UK there are hundreds of illegal extremist schools of various religious denominations, and in some of these “cells”, English is not even taught.

He says that if parents have objections on religious education or certain topics taught in PSD, a life skills subject, they can ask for exemptions.

However, Mr Bonello also raises another pertinent point about child abuse and the role schools play in flagging the issue. “There are children out there who have no one looking after them and school is their only solace. With all the defects in our education system the school will be able to identify if a child is suffering abuse or neglect at home. In these cases the school acts as an early warning system. But who will flag abuse if these children are taught at home?”