Pupils in Cardiff played truant the most
Primary school truancy reached its highest level in the past decade in Wales last year.
Welsh pupils missed 1.1 per cent of all possible school time without permission in 2015/16, new figures from the Welsh Government show for all types of primary school in Wales.
This was the highest share in the past decade.
This month's international Pisa school rankings suggested that there was a strong link between truancy and poor performance at school.
The OECD study suggested that students who missed school days were around a year behind students who attended regularly.
Primary school pupils in Cardiff and Newport played truant the most, missing 1.8 per cent of time they should have been in class or on school activities.
The Welsh Government established that 3,107 Welsh schoolchildren were “persistent absentees”, meaning they missed the equivalent of at least 38 days of school.
This group of children, which made up just 1.5 per cent of all pupils, was responsible for 8.2 per cent of all missed school time.
Key facts
- Boys had had a higher rate of overall absence than girls
- Schools in deprived areas have a higher rate of absenteeism
- Only 5.4% of pupils never missed a school session
- At the other end of the scale, 5.3% of pupils missed more than 25 school days (or five weeks)
Other truancy rates
- Behind Cardiff and Newport, Neath had the third highest truancy rate at 1.5%
- That was followed by Rhondda Cynon Taf (1.4%), Swansea (1.3%) and Merthyr (1.2%)
- Gwynedd (0.2%) and Flintshire (0.3%) had the lowest rates
However there is less authorised time off
Pupils are missing less overall schooltime in Wales, including authorised time off for illness and holiday.
All in all, pupils missed 5.1 per cent of possible school time in Wales last year, which was the joint-lowest proportion in the past 10 years.
The figures come after then Education Minister in Wales, Huw Lewis, said in January that parents could take their children out of school during term-time if they sought headteachers’ permission.
Some parents had raised concerns about the threat of fixed penalty notices if they took their children out of school early.
Kirsty Williams welcomed the overall fall in absenteeism
But while truancy was up, current Education Secretary Kirsty Williams welcomed the fall in overall absenteeism in primary schools.
Education Secretary Kirsty Williams welcomed figures released on Thursday which show absenteeism from primary schools in Wales has fallen over the last decade.
The statistics showed that, in 2015/16, the overall absenteeism rate remained at 5.1% and has been falling since 2006/07.
The rate of unauthorised absence from primary schools stands at 1.1%. Just over 1 in 70 pupils were persistent absentees, while illness was the most common reason for absence.
Kirsty Williams said: “These figures are to be welcomed as they show absenteeism from our primary schools has fallen over the last decade.
“I want to thank pupils, parents and teachers for their hard work in achieving this. The fact is if our young people are going to achieve their full potential, going to school regularly and consistently is crucial.
“Despite the progress we have seen, we can’t afford to be complacent and we will continue to take action to improve attendance in our schools.”
No comments:
Post a Comment