Commenting on figures for Unauthorised Absences in Dundee Schools 2009/10 made available as a result of a Freedom of Information Request.The figures for unauthorised absences in Dundee schools are unacceptably high. Neither politicians in the city, nor schools, nor education directorate can be complacent about this. Every day a child is absent from school is a day of learning lost. Not only that, but when a child returns to school following a period of absence there is inevitably some disruption to teaching and learning in a class.
Parents and carers have prime responsibility to ensure that their child attends school. Schools have a responsibility to make sure education is engaging and relevant for pupils and of course to inform parents if their child has an unauthorised absence from school.
In some city schools the figures suggest that the total number of days lost is uncomfortably and inexplicably high. For example, in St Paul's Academy there were 8703 days lost to unauthorised absence in 2009/10. This averages out to about 8 days per pupil. This translates into 4% of schooling lost over the year. Of course averages disguise wide variation. So if, as I assume, the majority of pupils at St Paul's have very low rates of unauthorised absence in a year, then it follows that some of their pupils must have missed considerable chunks of their schooling without authorisation.
So, while I concede that there is a joint responsibility between parents and schools, what is the Education Convener, Liz Fordyce, going to do about this?
