Poor economy, poor education

Since the COVID pandemic began, over 93,000 pupils have vanished from the school register. These so-called “ghost children” were investigated last month after going under the radar for nearly two years. The cost-of-living crisis will only make this worse.

Credit: Schools Week.

By: Derry Salter.

Over 1,000 schools in disadvantaged areas have an entire class of children missing; with the academic year only one month in, the number is predicted to rise.

School Standards Minister Will Quince admitted that work needs to be done in order to get children back in school. Children missing school is not being treated as a priority however, but more as a money-making scheme. Fines for missing school begin at £60, but can rise if they are not paid on time – something many disadvantaged families cannot do, especially during the cost-of-living crisis.

Last year, more than 100,000 children missed over half of the autumn term. With the economy crippling, children from disadvantaged areas are more likely to miss school. The extortionate cost of school uniforms coupled with travel, equipment and lunch costs means that the UK could soon see more “ghost children.”

Some areas in the UK are working hard to tackle this problem, such as the OASIS Academy in Kent. The secondary school has an absence rate of 54% and decided to tackle this by creating a support service on a double decker bus. The community support service seeks to provide struggling families with food, healthcare and advice in a move to get many children back in the education system.

Especially in poorer areas, children missing school are at risk of exploitation. But, is the exploitation really from their communities or the government putting their families further in debt?

A BBC Panorama investigation found that fines for children missing school vary depending on where they live. Some local councils admitted that no penalties were issued in their area to parents of children who missed school, whereas others handed our thousands of pounds in fines. In the last academic year, Luton handed out 97 fines per 1,000 pupils. Whereas, the City of London issued no penalties at all.

Labour Councillor Hannah Bithell spoke out against these unfair fines on parents, referring to it as a “monstrosity.” Handing out such hefty fines during a cost-of-living crisis, especially to economically disadvantaged families, will predictably see even more children miss school as parents will struggle with the cost of sending their children to school alongside paying fines.

In response to these findings, the government have promised to end the ‘postcode lottery’ of fines and have announced they are trialling new ways to improve attendance. Education Secretary Kit Malthouse has rolled out a one-to-one attendance mentoring scheme in Middlesbrough in an attempt to tackle the attendance problem, but a nationwide roll-out of the scheme is years away.