The Education Minister says she’s worried about the stark rise in children missing school.
Around 25 per cent of primary school children are missing for more than 20 days, and that rises to 42 per cent in disadvantaged schools.
Helen McEntee says the figures have doubled since the Pandemic, which is concerning:
I think what we're seeing is still a response to COVID-19 and there have been many negative impacts, some of which are only coming to the fore. I think it is worrying to see such a stark increase in the number of young people absent from school.
We've seen an increase not just in primary, but post-primary, but more worryingly in areas of disadvantage, the numbers have increased even more significantly.
Pre-pandemic, the figure for primary school pupils missing 20 days of school or more stood at 11 per cent.
The figure was 14.5 per cent at the secondary school level during 2018/2019 - the last school year to be unaffected by the pandemic.
Reporting by Stephanie Rohan & Beat News
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