, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary,
responding to new statistics showing over 122,000 children were
absent from school due to Covid on 16 September, said:
“The Conservatives’ chaotic failure to plan ahead or to listen to
Labour, parents and teachers and get ventilation and mitigations
in place saw over 122,000 children out of school again last week.
This is not good enough. The Conservatives have left schools in a
mess, the new Education Secretary urgently needs to set this
right.
“With 158,000 more children out of school than anticipated due to
Covid and standard absences, Ministers must urgently investigate
what’s happening with these families and work with parents and
schools to ensure all children can return to class.”
Ends
Notes to editors:
- Over 122,000 children (1.5%) were off school due to Covid
last week:
-
- 45,000 pupils with a suspected case of coronavirus
- 59,000 pupils with a confirmed case of coronavirus
- 2,000 pupils absent from open settings due to attendance
restrictions being in place to manage an outbreak
- 16,000 Pupils absent from open settings due to isolation
for other reasons
- Fewer than 500 pupils were absent as a result of school
closures due to COVID-related reasons
‘Absence in state-funded schools’: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/2021-week-38
- Overall, 8.1% of state school children were out of school
last week. Accounting for standard absence rate of 4.7% based on
2018/19 and Covid absence of 1.5%, this leaves an additional 1.9%
or 158,433 children out of school.
Total state school pupils, see ‘England’: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/02b190cf-87d1-48cd-ad40-66dd0736ffad
