Commenting on the Department for Education’s latest statistics on
attendance in education and early years settings during the
coronavirus pandemic, Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the
Association of School and College Leaders, said:
“It is very worrying to see that the percentage of students and
staff absent from school has risen. These statistics no longer
contain a breakdown of absence due to Covid because of the
government’s ‘living with Covid’ policies. However, it is highly
unlikely to be a coincidence that we are seeing absence in
education settings rising at the same time as Covid infections
are increasing in the general population.
“Our concern is that this is going to keep happening with wave
after wave of infections causing fresh disruption in our schools
and colleges. There is absolutely no government strategy to deal
with this issue. We are not for a moment calling for a return to
a battery of restrictions but there surely needs to be some
thought given to providing some free Covid testing, more
financial support for supply staff cover, and looking again at
issues such as ventilation ahead of the autumn term as it is
abundantly clear that the virus is not going away. This is not
only an educational issue but a health one too as it is clear
that staff and students are catching the virus repeatedly with
potential harm to their welfare.”
