This Act grants powers to ERO to conduct reviews outside the context of an exemption revocation being contemplated by the Ministry. Parliament unanimously voted in the Committee stages to amend the Bill to insert this reasonableness test. However, the Act does not say that ERO may require any or all information, only that at least some information must be provided. The Ministry has agreed with the Federation view on this point, and so far two homeschoolers have declined to be reviewed by ERO and have provided information directly to the Ministry. ERO review officers are certainly not skilled or reliable enough to use information gained in such conversations properly.
Reviews typically take two hours.
It is essential for homeschoolers to maximise the control they have over the review process. Many cases of homeschoolers being the subject of unjustified adverse ERO reports have arisen from inadequate control of the process. The Federation recommends that members do everything they practically can to control the process, because recent experience has shown that a significant number of adverse ERO reports are unjustified in terms of the law. If homeschoolers were to commission independent reviews to replace ERO reviews, the Federation recommends that they be demonstrably superior to typical ERO reviews in terms of the understanding of homeschooling, and at least equivalent in terms of their understanding of teaching in registered schools, which is the external reference in the Act. It is by no means a forgone conclusion that an adverse ERO report will lead to revocation of an exemption.