Headteachers urged to drag absent children from homes and back to school

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has backed headteachers driving to pick up absent pupils in the morning, amid a crisis in kids no longer attending school post-Covid. Speaking to Sky News , Ms Keegan was asked whether such anecdotes are a ‘good use’ of teachers’ time. “I think it’s a good thing to have all kids in school… it’s not what we want headteachers to be doing all their days but to be honest right now if that works to get somebody in school it’s worth it. “We all have to play our part, and I actually have a number of headteachers who work with me on policy and they say ‘sometimes you just have to do that’, sometimes you just have to go, or you text the parent in the morning,” Recent figures show 125,000 pupils spent more time out of class than in, with the Education Secretary admitting the attendance figures are a ‘crisis’. Ms Keegan said she supports headteachers picking up pupils (Image: Sky News) While there are now 1.7 million persistent absences, and 95,000 children missing from education entirely, Ms Keegan denied not having a grip on the problem. In May, the Government announced new attendance hubs, supporting up to 600 primary, secondary and alternative provision schools in England to improve their attendance. However Ms Keegan came under fire from Sky as the Hub programme is likely to only affect 1 percent of all severely absent children. Ms Keegan said it wasn’t the only thing the Government’s doing. Ms Keegan backed headteachers picking up absent pupils and driving them to school (Image: PA) She said it was vital kids start school in September, and those children feeling left behind will be ‘very anxious’. While there’s a voluntary register to monitor children out of education, Ms Keegan said the Government would be bringing in legislation to put the register on a statutory footing. ‘It’s something that many of my fellow MPs are very concerned about as well, and I get asked about it on a regular basis. ‘I don’t have the exact date, is the answer, because it’s a parliamentary process we have to go through, but we do intent to put it on a statutory footing and we will do it as soon as parliamentary time allows.’ Sky News analysis Ms Keegan’s comments as marking a ‘radical change in direction’ for the Government, from prosecuting and fining parents to a more ‘support-first’ approach.