As reported in today's Times, Lord Wei proposed an amendment to the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, on its way through the House of Lords.
Lord Wei is described as a "social entrepreneur", although there is no evidence put forward as to what that means or who (perhaps himself?) describes him as such. Anyway, his amendment addresses the Bill's requirement for the UK's children to register as home-schooled if their parents opt to do so rather than sending them to school. It's surprising that such a requirement doesn't already exist; although schools have to notify the local authority if a child is withdrawn from school to be home-schooled, there is no such requirement if a child is never sent to school in the first place.
I'm going to set aside considerations of home schooling (not something I would have relished as a parent) and focus on Lord Wei's amendment, which states
"A child who has achieved chess grandmaster status shall be considered to be receiving a suitable education and shall be exempt from registration under section 436B."
Section 436B outlines the new requirement for all children of compulsory school age ((basically up to 16) to be placed on a register if they are not attending school. Lord Wei, who was not present in the House to propose his amendment in person - perhaps home schooling his kids? - sent a message:
“This amendment recognises that children who attain chess grandmaster status demonstrate exceptional intellectual achievement. It automatically treats them as receiving a sufficient education.”
This is obviously a bit weird and begs the question of how many of these geniuses are there? Something the Times reporter hasn't bothered to explore - or maybe it got cut out by the sub-editors for lack of space. I, however, am like a dog with a bone and I did ask.
At the time the amendment was discussed in the House on 1st May (something the Times article today didn't point as therefore old news, I'm disappointed to say) the answer was: one. Shreyas Royal (born 9 January 2009, so currently 16 years old) officially earned his Grandmaster (GM) title in 2024 at age 15 years and 7 months, becoming the youngest British GM ever.
However, Shreyas ceased to be of compulsory school age on the last Friday in June, so the current answer to the ("how many?) question is: none.
So Lord Wei was seeking to create a legal opt-out for one person at the time. This seems an odd way to make law. I naturally asked ChatGPT whether it could find any connection between Lord Wei and Shreyas - that's the cynic in me - and the answer came: no. And no connection to any chess bodies that I could find.
I checked out Shreyas' FIDE (the world chess federation) data. His FIDE rating is 2501, one point above the GM threshold (ratings go up and down as you win or lose matches but you only have to get to 2500 once to get the title). He has competed around the world in tournaments and I suppose that means home schooling (perhaps travelling with a parent) is an appropriate way to get educated.
Perhaps, if we'd like Britain to become a chess powerhouse to compete with the pesky Indians and the powerhouse Chinese, Shreyas and his contemporaries need to be supported.
But I still don't see why you would want such a person to be exempt from a national register which seeks safeguarding through oversight, reporting, and potential interventions. What's the problem, Lord Wei?
Anyway, good luck to him (Shreyas, not Lord Wei). I've added him to my Favourites list on the Take Take Take app, so I'll let you know if he's in a tournament; I'm sure you'll want to know.