New guidelines from the Scottish Government should make it easier to withdraw pupils from school to be educated at home.

Ministers recommend a six-week deadline for local authorities to decide whether a child can be taken out of mainstream education.

Parents who teach their children want the period shortened to two weeks.

The Scottish Parent Teacher Council (SPTC) has expressed concerns about adequate monitoring of home education.

Home educators said they had faced prejudice and an entrenched lack of understanding from some of the local authorities.

They said children flourished as a result of a more flexible approach to teaching.

Home educators have said that they faced prejudice.

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