AT a time when enormous thought, and cash, is being put into creating new schools across East Lancashire it is very worrying to learn that the number of children being taught at home has more than doubled in the past eight years.

The total of 169 children in East Lancashire listed on the home education register earlier this year is, councillors are to be told, putting “an increasing strain on limited resources.”

The councillors, and the rest of us, need to know precisely why so many parents are choosing not to send their sons and daughters to school.

While the education authority has no legal obligation to monitor the quality of home education it has to intervene if it fears the teaching being provided is not up to scratch.

Concern about bullying is cited as one possible reason for non-attendance at school and that is something which must be addressed at its core.

No child should be denied a classroom education because they are in fear of other pupils.

Increasing numbers of youngsters may also be at home because they have been excluded from mainstream schools.

There should be a closer investigation to pinpoint exactly what is happening and why.