The Education Minister has blamed politicians who called for strict lockdown measures during the pandemic for high levels of school absenteeism.
Paul Givan was responding to an Assembly question from SDLP MLA Cara Hunter, who has urged the Department to do more to encourage pupils to attend school.
Ms Hunter urged the Department to explore the reasons for the current high level of absenteeism.
“Since the coronavirus pandemic we have seen increasing school absences for our young people and this pattern shows that there has been a failure to get to grips with this issue,” she said.
“There are many different reasons that a child or young person could miss school, but there has been little work to understand these reasons from successive Education Ministers, the department and the Education Authority.
“The absence of some pupils will be inevitable for health and other reasons, but I have become increasingly aware of young people who are missing school because they do not feel comfortable in their existing school environment or it does not properly meet their needs.
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“I’ve worked with parents whose children have experienced bullying and anxiety around school attendance and others who are waiting for an ADHD or autism assessment that will support them throughout their time in education.
“Every student has a right to an education that meets their needs and I acknowledge that the best place for every child is in school, but we cannot allow record levels of absences to continue.
“I will continue to work with parents and schools in the months ahead to identify the reasons for absences and to come up with proposals that can make school a safe and rewarding experience for every young person, whatever their needs.”
While admitting he didn’t have the precise figures at hand for 2024, Education Minister Paul Givan said the level of absenteeism “highlights an issue which is of concern and that we are actively engaging on because if you’re not in school then you aren’t able to get the benefits of that educational environment.”
Statistics show that the 2021/22 school year was the worst for school absence.
There was a concerning growth in the number of pupils falling into what is classified ‘chronic attendance’ (more than 10% of days missed) and ‘severe chronic absence’ (more than 20%).
Around 44,000 pupils had missed 10% of term time in 2017/18 but by 2021/22 it had reached 98,000 pupils — up 123%.
One third of all pupils were absent from class for 10% of that school year, and the situation hasn’t improved.
“Driving up attendance rates is an important issue for us, but it has been exacerbated as a result of Covid and the lockdown approach,” the DUP minister continued.
“Those who advocated lockdown, denying children the opportunity to be in school, have a lot of questions that they need to answer as to why they took that approach, because we are living with the outworking of that now where children and families have been impacted.
“The attendance figures are significantly lower now than they were before Covid.”
The minister also had a message for children.
“School is a great opportunity for you to develop socially, but also educationally. We will be there to support you to overcome those barriers you may have for not wanting to be at school, and they can be varied,” he said.
“A huge amount of work goes in to facilitate and support those young people who have at time legitimate and very difficult issues to overcome.
“I want all our children to be in school. It’s the best place they can be to develop.”