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Teachers Be Crazy
Skewbrow:
--- Quote from: Barmymoo on 09 Jun 2011, 02:14 ---On the exams point - in the UK home education is completely legal and all you have to do is be able to explain to an inspector (should one contact you) what you're doing. The government have no right to demand curricula, learning plans, inspections, interviews with the children etc unless they suspect you're not actually teaching them anything - for example, if they know that both parents work full time and there's no tutor, then they can demand proof of education. Exams can be entered through local schools and it's pretty easy to set up.
--- End quote ---
Works much the same way here (Finland). When my kid got diagnosed with CFS (or Asperger or a combination or whatever) we opted for home ed to get him thru comprehensive school (roughly equivalent to U.S. junior high). As my wife is a (qualified but mostly unemployed - my work keeps us at a college town, so the job market is kinda difficult for her) physics teacher, getting the paperwork done was not too difficult - the school principal helped. Also they arranged for the exams at school, so he got his diploma from the school all right. The kid's very bright (must come from Mom's side)but he hasn't fully recovered yet - wish us luck.
--- Quote from: tuathal on 09 Jun 2011, 07:33 ---The chances of getting TB living in western europe/the UK now are distinctly slim is what I meant. The very fact that it made the BBC site pretty much confirms that :P
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The shadow on that piece of good news is that TB has not been rooted out of Russia, and they still lack the political stability/discipline to get it done. The somewhat alarming news were a few reported cases of a slightly mutated TB resilient to some of the old antibiotics. Our health authorities didn't sound awfully concerned. May be another antibiotics worked or some other solution came, because it dropped out of news. The UK is an island, I realize, but that may not help much these days.
pwhodges:
To put this into a world-wide perspective, some quotes from Wikipedia (which is notably reliable on medical matters):
--- Quote ---One third of the world's population is thought to be infected with M. tuberculosis, and new infections occur at a rate of about one per second. The proportion of people who become sick with tuberculosis each year is stable or falling worldwide but, because of population growth, the absolute number of new cases is still increasing.
[...]
Currently, there are more cases of TB on the planet than at any other time in history
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To understand the first startling fact, note also:
--- Quote ---Most infections in humans result in an asymptomatic, latent infection
--- End quote ---
nekowafer:
That is why physicians get a PPD test (TB test) once a year. And those that get a positive result, due to vaccinations, or prior infection, or any number of things, have to get a chest x-ray to check for it.
Barmymoo:
--- Quote from: Skewbrow on 10 Jun 2011, 00:24 ---Works much the same way here (Finland).... getting the paperwork done was not too difficult
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You mentioned paperwork - what paperwork were you required to do? Here, providing you haven't ever sent your child to school before, you don't have to do any paperwork at all. The baby is born, they register it, the health checks are done as usual, so the government knows the child exists, but there's no requirement to register your choice to home educate. You just don't register them at a school. If you have registered them at a school then changed your mind, you obviously need to tell the school so that they can fill the place, but you don't have to tell them why you're withdrawing them - you might be going to a different school instead. Basically, providing no one raises any concerns (neighbours, family or health visitors) about abuse or neglect, you are left to your own devices.
--- Quote from: Skewbrow on 10 Jun 2011, 00:24 ---The UK is an island, I realize, but that may not help much these days.
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I think the outbreak in Birmingham was believed to be due to a high percentage of the students being first- or second-generation Pakistani immigrants, who returned to visit their families during the holidays. Pakistan doesn't innoculate as robustly as the UK against TB, so children were bringing home infections and spreading them. In light of Paul's post, though, I suspect there is something more to it than that. As far as I know it stopped being compulsory to innoculate children against TB a few years ago, so herd immunity is slowly falling. I got what we referred to as "the six needles" and "the jab" when I was about 12, but I don't know if my brother did.
pwhodges:
--- Quote from: Barmymoo on 10 Jun 2011, 06:09 ---I got what we referred to as "the six needles"
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I watched everyone else queue up for that; as I'd just had the disease, obviously I was not tested!
Just to confirm what you've said anyway, here is the UK government's info on home education. Some local authorities might be a bit more proactive in checking up on you (and offering help, too).
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