As reported by iNews, headteachers have criticised the government’s decision to stop publishing data on the number of school absences linked to COVID
The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) have said the move is “deeply troubling and ill-advised”.
According to the latest statistics published by the Department for Education (DfE) for April, schools attendance stood at 89.1%. This was up from 88.6% on March 31st.
School staff absences were at 8.2%, down from to 8.7% in March.
However, the DfE has now stopped reporting COVID absences.
General secretary of the NAHT, Paul Whiteman, said: “Unfortunately the government’s decision to stop collecting any data from schools relating to COVID absences means it is no longer possible to draw any conclusions from these attendance figures as to what the COVID situation really is in schools.
“The ‘living with COVID plan’ is increasingly looking like an ‘ignoring COVID plan’ when it comes to schools”.
Whiteman warned that the previous data showed disruptions were still high: “Almost one in five schools has more than 15% of their teachers and school leaders absent, and overall workforce absence is still close to the same level as at the start of term.
“The lack of up-to-date information also raises serious questions about the government’s ability to respond quickly should cases start to rise or new variants emerge in the future”.
Education unions also criticised the recent decision to stop providing free lateral flow tests in schools.
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