Persistent school absence a growing problem in NI, according to Department of Education figures

Video report by Eden Wilson

Persistent school absence is a growing problem in Northern Ireland with the 2021-22 academic year the worst on record, according to the Department of Education.

Around 98,000 pupils in Northern Ireland missed 10% of school during that academic year - around 19 days or the equivalent of taking every other Friday off school for an entire year.

Compared to 2017-2018 figures, when around 44,000 students missed the same number of days, it marks a 123% increase in overall absence rate.

While there has been an improvement in 2022-23 figures, the levels of chronic attendance (10% missed +) and severe chronic attendance (20% missed +) in Northern Ireland are still high.

"Illness" and "no reason provided" are among the top reasons for absence. Parents taking holidays within the school term has also raised concern.

Officials have described the school absence trend as "very concerning" and an "ongoing challenge which has been significantly impacted by Covid-19".

The data also shows that higher attendance rates at school deliver higher examination results.

Around 88% of pupils with an attendance of 95% or above achieve the key benchmark of 5 or more A*-C grade GCSEs.

That reduces to 46% of pupils with 90% attendance, and 26% of pupils with 80% attendance.

The department said Covid-19 along with a change in "attitudes towards regular attendance" was part of the issue.

Officials also acknowledged that "some pupils with unique challenges are finding attending school difficult".

Emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA), which is linked to mental health and well-being, describes children and young people who have reduced or non-attendance at school.

According to the department, some examples of ESBA risk factors include "anxiety, depression, other mental health concerns, trauma, being a young carer, bullying and having a special education need or disability".

It said it has provision for pupils to access counselling in schools and that schools are "increasingly" considering the use of social workers for support.

All regions of the UK use different absence data collection systems which means direct comparisons cannot be made, however there are broad trends.

Persistent absence in Northern Ireland is around 28.6%, while in England it sits at around 22.3%.

The correlation between school absence and deprivation is also outlined in the data.

Where a school has a high-proportion of pupils entitled to Free School Meals, its absence levels are generally higher than average.

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