Frew raises school absence concerns at Assembly

NORTH Antrim DUP MLA Paul Frew has told the Assembly of his concerns about ‘chronic school absence’.

Speaking last Monday he focused on what effect what he termed ‘ lockdown philosophy’ has had on young people.

He said: “From September 2017 to June 2018, 1,731 pupils had an absence level of 50% or greater. Of those, 523 pupils missed over 80% of school.

“That was from September 2017 to June 2018, but look at what happens with lockdown philosophy.

“Figures on absence levels for pupils from September 2021 to June 2022 show that 4,145 pupils had an absence level of 50% or greater.

“That is 4,145 compared with 1,731. Of those 4,145 pupils, 1,280 missed over 80% of school. Each of those measures has more than doubled.

“It is vital to put those numbers on the record, but they do not show the full picture.

“Look at the absence level for pupils who missed a lesser degree of school.

“In 2018-19, 23·6% of pupils had at-risk levels of attendance, which means being absent from school for 5% of the year or more. In 2022-23, that figure rose from 23% to 29%.

“For pupils suffering from chronic levels of attendance, which means 10% or more, it was 11·8% in 2018-19, but that percentage rose to 19·3% in 2022-23.

“The proportion of pupils suffering severe chronic levels of attendance, which means being absent for 20% or more — a significant amount of missed school — was 4% in 2017-18 and 2018-19. In 2022-23, the percentage was 8·7%. “

Mr Frew told the Guardian: “Lockdown philosophy dictated we sacrifice our children's education and development for a "stay at home" message.

“That is utterly shameful. We should have looked to Sweden who never once shut down schools throughout the pandemic.

“Now we live with the awful consequences but it’s the children and young people who have suffered grievously.”