The much-anticipated Education Bill is moving a step closer, with a public consultation process announced.

Originally the bill, which is the flagship legislation from the Department of Education and Children, had been targeted to be in place for the start of the 2018/19 academic year.

But with a draft yet to be published and a likely arduous process of scrutiny the paper itself is finally laid before the branches of Tynwald, that does not seem likely.

At the start of this year, it was intended an actual draft of the bill itself would have been put out for consultation in the summer. However, that process has slowed.

Now, the Department of Education and Children has announced it is seeking public opinion on a number of areas - in advance of actually drafting the bill.

The closing date to respond is November 22, meaning it is a tight schedule to then have the draft bill ready for publication and consultation early in 2018, which was Education Minister Graham Cregeen’s revised hope in July.

Announcing this initial consultation, Mr Cregeen said: ’The shape of education has changed a lot since the 2001 Education Act, which underpins our work. We are updating legislation to ensure the island has an education system that meets its needs, now and in the future.

’Ahead of creating such a major piece of legislation, we are inviting the public’s views in a number of key areas.’

The areas the DEC is seeking views on are:

â?¢ religious education

â?¢ inspecting and ensuring the quality of pre-schools

â?¢ regulating and registering private tutors and education and training establishments

â?¢ more closely monitoring home education

â?¢ giving teachers wider powers to deal with bad behaviour

â?¢ clamping down further on truancy

â?¢ more rigorously enforcing catchment areas

â?¢ provision for pupils with special educational needs

â?¢ school governance

â?¢ the role of lay advisory bodies, the Education Council and Religious Education Advisory Council.

Mr Cregeen can be certain of some strong feedback on the issue of home schooling, as parents have already approached MHKs expressing concern at rumoured plans for a compulsory annual report required from anyone who schools their children at home.

A number of questions on the matter have been tabled for this week’s Tynwald sitting.

Meanwhile, the department’s special educational needs (SEN) policy has not been updated since 1995.

However, a new ’framework for special educational needs identification and provision’ has been drawn up, Mr Cregeen revealed earlier this year, and is being implemented in primary schools this autumn term. It is due to be implemented in secondary schools shortly after.

The new SEN policy would reflect the framework, Mr Cregeen has said.

The new Education Bill, when it arrives, is expected to be a wide-ranging replacement for the 2001 Education Act. At the start of the year, Mr Cregeen admitted there were significant areas of the 2001 act that were ’outdated’.

When called on, in Tynwald in July, to explain why the arrival of the bill was behind schedule, Mr Cregeen said the drafting instructions had taken longer to compile and ’other legislation’ had been brought forward, diverting resources.

The consultation is at https://consult.gov.im/ and paper copies can be requested from the department.