08 January 2024 , 22:30
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Home-schooled children would have to be registered by law under plans by Labour to curb persistent absence rates.
Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson will unveil the proposals in a major speech today as part of a school attendance crackdown. Long term absence rates shot up after the pandemic and heads are struggling to get children back into class following the long Covid lockdowns.
One in five children (21.5%) in England were persistently absent during the Autumn and Spring terms of last year - meaning they missed 10% of their lessons. This is more than double the number who regularly missed class during the same period in 2018/19 (10.5%), according to Department for Education data.
Labour warned the number of children persistently absent from school could rise to more than one in four in 2025/26 unless urgent action is taken. It comes after a recent poll for the Centre for Justice think-tank found one in four parents has said they don't think their child has to go to school each day.
Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson wants to get a grip on persistent absence rates in schools (PA)Labour would create a register of children who aren't in school and use AI to spot trends in absence rates to get a grip on the issue. Ms Phillipson will say: “The difference a Labour government will bring is clear: as in 1964, as in 1997, a party that puts children first, a government that makes education its priority. A country where education is about excellence for everyone, where schools deliver high and rising standards for all our children.”
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Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: "Current absence rates are alarming with twice as many children persistently absent compared to the rate from before the pandemic. If children are not in school, they cannot learn. It is as simple as that.”
NEU General Secretary Daniel Kebede said: "We welcome Labour’s commitment to make education its priority if it wins the next election. They will have much damage to repair after over a decade of neglect and underinvestment by this Government."
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The Tory Government has been promising to create a register since 2021. However ministers ditched the Schools Bill, which would have enshrined it in law, and there was no mention of the idea in last year's King's Speech. Backbencher Flick Drummond has put forward a private members bill but it needs parliamentary time to progress.
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan insisted on Monday that tackling persistent absence is her "number one priority". She said: "We want all our children to have the best start in life because we know that attending school is vital to a child's wellbeing, development, and attainment as well as impact future career success."
She unveiled 18 new attendance hubs across six regions, which will help local schools that are struggling to get children back into class. The Government is also going to fund a £15million attendance mentor pilot programme with the charity Barnardos, which is already being trialled in Middlesbrough, Doncaster, Knowsley, Salford, and Stoke-on-Trent.