Commenting on the school attendance statistics published by the
Department for Education today, Geoff Barton, General Secretary
of the Association of School and College Leaders, said:
“It is very worrying, though not unexpected, that there has been
an increase in Covid-related pupil absence in the week before the
half term holiday.
“We are clearly now seeing the impact of the Delta variant
feeding through into these statistics, and this is reflected by
the fact that absence is highest in areas that have been worst
affected by the variant.
“This means that many pupils are having to self-isolate in line
with Covid protocols and will be experiencing yet more
disruption.
“Schools and colleges are doing their very best to manage this
extremely difficult situation by providing remote education to
pupils who are affected but it is clearly far from ideal.
“This situation highlights the fact that the utmost caution is
needed in the weeks ahead before any further easing of Covid
restrictions, and the current measures must also be kept under
review to see if any other actions are immediately required.
“In the longer term, this continued disruption provides yet more
evidence of the need for the government to put forward a much
more ambitious education recovery plan than it has so far
managed.”
