December 22, 2024

UK lawmaker calls for government action on rising number of children missing from school

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Creator: OwenPrice | Credit: Getty Images

A Conservative frontbencher has urged the government to prioritize addressing pupil absences after a report revealed that approximately 300,000 children were missing from education in England last year.

The Education Policy Institute (EPI) study, which analyzed discrepancies between GP registrations and school enrolment records, highlighted a 40% increase in unaccounted absences since 2017.

The report also found that over 50,000 students had exited the state education system by Year 11, with no clear documentation explaining their departures.

Shadow education secretary Laura Trott responded to the findings by calling on the government to refocus its efforts on tackling pupil absenteeism. Speaking to Sky News, she said:

“Pupil absence is the most important thing for the Department for Education (DfE) to focus on at the moment—not cancelling new schools, diluting the academic curriculum, and spending acres of civil service time on a VAT rise that will add pressure to state schools. We must get children back to the classroom.”

The data is a pointer to a growing concern about the number of children slipping through the cracks in the education system, raising questions about the effectiveness of current policies and the need for targeted interventions to address the issue.

 

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