Labour says it’s going to introduce extra psychological well being counsellors to secondary colleges as a part of its plans to sort out rising pupil absences.
The social gathering says the UK is dealing with a “generational challenge”, as greater than 88,000 secondary faculty college students missed a minimum of half of their schooling final 12 months.
Labour’s schooling pledge comes as a ballot performed for the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) prompt nearly a 3rd of oldsters imagine it isn’t important for kids to attend faculty every single day.
The thinktank’s report, which questioned 1,206 mother and father throughout December 2023, discovered 28% felt that means, and solely 70% of oldsters are assured that their kid’s wants are being met – a determine which drops to 61% at secondary faculty.
A report by a committee of cross-party MPs launched in September final 12 months stated that psychological well being assist for kids struggling to attend faculty was “grossly inadequate”.
As nicely because the introduction of extra psychological well being counsellors in secondary colleges, Labour is pledging to place “mental health hubs” in each neighborhood and supply common free breakfast golf equipment for each major faculty pupil if it positive factors energy.
Shadow schooling secretary Bridget Phillipson will ship a speech on Labour’s imaginative and prescient for colleges on Tuesday, the place she is anticipated to put out a plan for tackling excessive charges of persistent absence.
She stated the “broken relationship between schools and families” wants fixing.
The Conservatives “are only tinkering around the edges of a generational challenge,” Ms Phillipson stated.
She added: “Persistent absence has reached historic levels under the Conservatives, beginning even before the pandemic, and they cannot be trusted to fix a problem that they have caused.
“Only Labour has a long-term plan to sort out the attendance disaster and drive the excessive and rising requirements our kids deserve.”
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Figures launched in September final 12 months confirmed that greater than 1.7 million kids had been persistently absent in 2021/2022, which means they missed 10% or extra of college.
The authorities has beforehand dedicated to introducing a children-not-in-school register, which might make it simpler to trace which pupils had been being electively home-educated, flexi-schooled, or receiving various schooling in an unregistered setting.
Education secretary Gillian Keegan reiterated the federal government’s intention to introduce the register in November final 12 months however did not say when the plans can be introduced earlier than parliament.
She stated there was “a lot of work going on”, and referenced a session that was launched on revised elective house schooling steerage.
“The consultation is open until 18 January 2024. So there is a lot of work going on and we do intend to bring forward that legislation,” she stated within the Commons.
Source: information.sky.com”