Minister Blames Work-From-Home Parents for Increase in Friday School Absences
Gillian Keegan noted the impact of lockdowns on schooling, with absence rates rising from 4.7 percent in 2019 to 7.6 percent in 2021.
The education secretary criticized parents for allowing children to miss school, highlighting an increase in Friday absences.
“We are very clear: it is unacceptable to make a deliberate decision to keep your child out of school,” Ms. Keegan wrote, emphasizing that it matters because “every day a child is absent means they will miss on average five to six lessons — time they will never get back.”
An analysis by The Epoch Times of overall school absences in England from September 11, 2023 to April 19, 2024, found that Fridays had the highest absence rate at 7.8 percent, with Monday absences following at 7.1 percent. Wednesdays had the lowest absence rate at 6.6 percent.
Several individual days in the current academic year had notably high absence rates, including March 28—the day before Good Friday, which saw an average of 10.2 percent of children missing school. Oct. 20, 2023—the Friday before the Autumn half term for many schools in England—experienced an absence rate of 9.5 percent. Jan. 2, 2024—the day when schools returned from the Christmas holidays—saw 10.1 percent of children missing school.
Lockdowns
Ms. Keegan is not the first prominent figure in education to suggest a connection between work-from-home parents and Friday school absences.
In March of last year, Dame Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner for England, provided data to the Education Committee showing a significant increase in Friday absences after lockdown.
“Parents are at home on Fridays. We have heard evidence from kids, ‘Well, mum and dad are at home, so we stay at home,’” Dame Rachel told MPs.
In her article in The Times of London, Ms. Keegan recognized the impact that the COVID-19 lockdown had on current attendance rates.
“We know the COVID pandemic has had a major impact on school attendance all around the world. In England, we had reduced absence rates from 6 percent in 2009 to 4.7 percent in 2019, but the pandemic has completely changed this picture — with the 2021 absence rate rising to 7.6 percent,” she wrote.
The number of “persistently absent” pupils—where children miss 10 percent or more of school sessions—was 21.2 percent, nearly double the pre-pandemic rate of 10.9 percent in 2018/19.
In January, the Centre for Social Justice think tank found that the pandemic had impacted parental views on school attendance, with 28 percent of parents believing it is not essential for children to attend school daily.
Mental Health
The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) disputed Ms. Keegan’s suggestion that parents were allowing children time off school “on a whim,” pointing to other factors such as mental health issues.
NAHT General-Secretary Paul Whiteman highlighted the effects of both the pandemic and a decade of government austerity on families, impacting children’s attendance due to challenges like poverty, mental health, housing insecurity, and special educational needs.
Mr. Whiteman called for increased government investment in services like children’s mental health and social care, as well as education welfare officers.
Dame Rachel warned about a “growing group of children struggling with their mental health,” attributing it to various factors including growing up during the pandemic and the current cost of living crisis.
Ms. Sergeant mentioned that a school counsellor identified two categories of absent children: those too anxious to leave their rooms and those displaying aggression and joining gangs, ultimately dropping out of school.
