Petition · past parliament

Coronavirus: Allow parents to choose to keep their children out of school.

Rejected 12 signatures

What the petition asks

As an urgent interim measure, allow parents to choose whether to keep their kids at home. Some families can handle this. Actively promote action.

Additionally, facilitate education at home during this period, through, for example, more educational TV programs and websites.
Reducing social contact will reduce the rate of spread of the virus, so "flattening the curve", reducing the load on the NHS and more - ultimately reducing the number of deaths and related suffering.

But the *forced* closing of schools would put strain on families, impacting incomes, employers and beyond.

So, allow parents to decide and educate at home - some are in a position to do this without significant negative impact. Even if numbers are small, this will slow the spread of the virus.

Why it was rejected

There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.

Timeline

15 Mar 2020 Petition opened for signatures
16 Mar 2020 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 12
Status Rejected
Rejected 16 Mar 2020

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.