The Government has scrapped controversial homeschooling regulations after fierce opposition from families and ACT MPs forced Education Minister Erica Stanford to back down.
The Education and Training Amendment Bill was due for its final reading today but will now return to committee to strip out the homeschooling provisions entirely.
Stanford announced the backtrack yesterday after ACT Education spokesperson Laura McClure warned the changes treated good parents with suspicion and imposed unreasonable compliance burdens.
"Draconian new restrictions on homeschooling were a mistake, rushed into law at the last minute," ACT Leader David Seymour said. "We have fixed it, and Parliament will take those clauses out of the law today."
The disputed clauses would have given bureaucrats sweeping powers to regulate homeschooling families. Section 640A particularly concerned critics as it provided few safeguards in primary legislation and expanded the Ministry's powers to demand information from parents.
Minister of Education @EricaStanfordMP gives an appropriate explanation in the House as to why she listened to Ministry of Ed officials rather than consult with homeschooling families. (Always a good lesson to ignore policy wonks in the Ministry who think kids can change their… pic.twitter.com/FD1vfqqmEL
— 𝓑𝓸𝓫 𝓜𝓬𝓒𝓸𝓼𝓴𝓻𝓲𝓮 🇳🇿 (@bobmccoskrienz) May 27, 2026
McClure spent a week listening to homeschooling families before writing to Stanford. "Wellington bureaucrats tried to use a handful of isolated cases to justify sweeping new powers over thousands of loving, committed parents," she said.
The Ministry of Education and Education Review Office had advised in late 2023 and early 2024 that regulation was needed to ensure homeschooled children received adequate education. The Government moved quickly to introduce legislation providing appropriate checks.
But Stanford admitted feedback showed "the issue is more complicated than first thought" and the Government would "take the time to get this right."
"We know most parents who homeschool their children work hard to provide a quality education," Stanford said. "It is reasonable to have some checks that ensure all homeschooled children receive an adequate education."
The Government will consider including homeschool provisions in future legislation.
Seymour called the backdown "a victory for democracy, showing that people can be heard by politicians and change can result."
McClure thanked the Minister for listening but warned ACT would watch any redrafting closely. "We cannot write laws that treat everyday families with suspicion in an attempt to catch a small number of bad actors," she said.
The controversy highlights tensions between protecting children's education rights and respecting parental choice. Thousands of Southland families homeschool their children, making enormous sacrifices to provide alternative education outside the state system.