Commenting on statistics on pupil
absence in schools in England in the autumn term 2020, Geoff
Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and
College Leaders, said:
“These figures show what we already know – that the autumn term
was an extremely turbulent period with pupils regularly having to
self-isolate because they either contracted Covid or were in
close contact with someone who tested positive.
“This difficult situation was compounded by significant problems
early in the term obtaining Covid tests for pupils and staff and
in obtaining public health support in handling positive cases.
“The government’s refusal to give schools any flexibility to
finish in-school teaching early before Christmas, which was
accompanied by threats of legal action, made matters even worse.
“The Prime Minister’s former senior adviser spoke yesterday of
the government’s shortcomings in the handling of this crisis and
it is certainly the case that schools and colleges were badly let
down by government leadership during the autumn term.
“It is to their immense credit that they managed to keep the show
on the road during this exceptionally difficult period. They did
an outstanding job in incredibly challenging circumstances in
delivering in-school and remote education to their pupils.”
