‘Teachers are leaving the profession in droves-telling them to visit the home of every absent pupil is an utter waste of time.’

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan MP last week informed Headteachers that it was ‘their duty’ to go and collect absent pupils to help solve the high number of pupils missing school.

Teachers have hit back and accused the Education Secretary of being ‘flippant’ and very unhelpful.

Andrew Achilleos, Chair of Dagenham and Rainham Labour Party has called these comments ignorant and ridiculous.

Mr Achilleos told the Havering Daily;

“I’ve never heard such a ridiculous suggestion. Given the existing pressure on Headteachers between overstretched and underfunded staff, day-to-day safeguarding, and Ofsted inspections, I think these comments are ignorant of the current situation in our schools – a situation this government has contributed to. Teachers in many schools are already required to call parents on the phone when a child is absent without explanation. Asking Headteachers to personally visit the home of every absent student is an utter waste of time.

“Teachers are leaving the profession in droves, often struggling with exhaustion and/or mental health issues as a result of the increasing workloads – which see many acting as social workers in addition to their role as educators. Don’t get me wrong, I think we do need a strategy to get absent children into school, but handing the Headteacher a list of addresses and saying ‘off you go then’ isn’t the answer. I would call for more investment in local government to establish better family outreach programmes, working alongside governing bodies and other partners to find and resolve the root causes.”

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