Headteachers urged to tug absent kids from properties and again to highschool

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has backed headteachers driving to select up absent pupils within the morning, amid a disaster in youngsters now not attending faculty post-Covid.

Speaking to Sky News, Ms Keegan was requested whether or not such anecdotes are a ‘good use’ of academics’ time.

“I think it’s a good thing to have all kids in school… it’s not what we want headteachers to be doing all their days but to be honest right now if that works to get somebody in school it’s worth it.

“We all must play our half, and I even have a lot of headteachers who work with me on coverage and so they say ‘generally you simply have to do this’, generally you simply must go, otherwise you textual content the guardian within the morning,”

Recent figures show 125,000 pupils spent more time out of class than in, with the Education Secretary admitting the attendance figures are a “crisis”.

While there are now 1.7 million persistent absences, and 95,000 children missing from education entirely, Ms Keegan denied not having a grip on the problem.

In May, the Government announced new attendance hubs, supporting up to 600 primary, secondary and alternative provision schools in England to improve their attendance.

However Ms Keegan came under fire from Sky as the Hub programme is likely to only affect 1 percent of all severely absent children.

Ms Keegan said it wasn’t the only thing the Government’s doing.

She said it was vital kids start school in September, and those children feeling left behind will be “very anxious”.

While there’s a voluntary register to monitor children out of education, Ms Keegan said the Government would be bringing in legislation to put the register on a statutory footing.

“It’s something that many of my fellow MPs are very concerned about as well, and I get asked about it on a regular basis.

“I don’t have the exact date, is the answer, because it’s a parliamentary process we have to go through, but we do intent to put it on a statutory footing and we will do it as soon as parliamentary time allows.”

Sky News analysis Ms Keegan’s comments as marking a “radical change in direction” for the Government, from prosecuting and fining parents to a more “support-first” approach.