By now, most children will have met the challenges of the school year: they will have made new friends, loathed new teachers, joined new clubs. But for some children this term will have been little different from the last: friends will be few or non-existent, the teacher an occasional figure and passing exams an impossible dream.

This is the sad reality for the estimated 150,000 children who have to be educated at home because they are too ill to attend school.

The academic future for these children is bleak. Isolated and often bedridden, even those with the keenest parents manage only sporadic study, sometimes with the help of a home tutor provided by their local council.

But there is one way in which these children can make new friends, attend classes regularly and gain GCSEs and A-levels, although few of their parents seem to be aware of it.

The solution — obvious, really — is the internet. Millions of children already log on to websites to read articles, swap music tracks and pictures and chat online. So why not virtual classrooms?

The Nisai Virtual Academy (NVA), an institute that supplies live “virtual lessons”, has thought of it first. All you need is a computer and an internet connection.

Andy McGarry, NVA’s communications director, says: “When we launched two years ago, much of our support came from the Tymes Trust, a charity for children with ME and chronic fatigue syndrome,Now we have a scheme funded by the Government.”

One of these children is 17-year-old Richard Bennett, who has been housebound by ME/CFS since 2004. Before that he was a keen maths student and a member of the school band. “Working online is a lot less tiring than it is in a regular classroom,” he says. “You can hear the teachers and talk to them or other kids with a microphone or by texting. If you miss a lesson, you can replay it later.” In his maths AS level this year, Richard got 95 per cent.

The virtual classroom also helps those who have dropped out of education to reconnect — which is what Derbyshire Local Education Authority has been using it for. The county’s latest figures indicate that 68 per cent of disengaged children got back into full-time learning after using the virtual classroom regularly.

Some critics of online learning have claimed that it makes children isolated, but its fans argue the opposite. Richard says: “It’s good to be part of a class of people who know what you are going through. Also, we often collaborate and chat outside the classroom.” The whole internet is available for such meetings: classes can hook up with galleries, museums and nature parks, and children can be taken on a virtual tour, then discuss it afterwards.

Part of the reason for the scheme’s success may be classroom sizes — no more than ten pupils is the rule, at a cost of £7,000 for four subjects (paid for privately or by the LEA, depending on the child’s situation).

Research by Warwickshire LEA suggests that e-learning is more effective than home tutoring. Last year 36 per cent of grades obtained by home-tutored children were A-C, compared with 53 per cent for those taught online. This year online pupils scored 67 per cent A-C. Yet there are still fewer than 100 users.

McGarry says: “The chance of a parent being told about Nisai, let alone the funding available for it, is very, very small. Many LEAs seem content with the home tutoring model.”

The NVA is supported by the Learning and Skills Council, which has grants available for 2,000 children. Hurry while the stocks last.

nisaieducation.com 020-8424 8475

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