: The impact of
child poverty in particular is apparent in the figures, with
those children eligible for free school meals markedly more
likely to miss school on a regular basis. NEU
Wales, Wales’s largest education union, has major
concerns about the impact of absence levels in schools and
colleges, and the lower average level of attendance amongst
children in receipt of free school meals. The union has called on
the Welsh Government for additional funding to allow schools and
colleges to help absent learners sitting external examinations to
catch up, so that they can succeed in their qualifications and to
put them on that pathway for the rest of their lives, as well as
employing additional specialist staff, and mental health support
and screening to support schools and colleges.
So, is there additional new and adequate funding to support this
guidance and what the guidance seeks to prioritise and the calls
such as those made by the NEU? I've
certainly seen evidence in my casework, and I’m sure that other
Members will have seen similar evidence, of how the cost of
living and the cost of the school day are a barrier to attendance
by some, and the children's commissioner too has clearly stated
that the Welsh Government must consider persistent absence in the
context of poverty. So, I’d like to know how the taskforce's work
engages and aligns with the work on formulating the Government's
child poverty strategy. What assessment has been made of the
impact of absence on the post-16 sector in terms of the support
available to further education colleges to tackle these issues?
MS (Minister for Education
and the Welsh Language): I thank Sioned Williams for those
questions. The guidance is new, but the focus on absence
certainly isn't, and I would agree with the point that NEU Cymru
has made in terms of how important this is. I was at their
conference on Sunday morning having that very discussion with
them, and I thank them for maintaining the focus from their
perspective on this most important issue.
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