Headteachers “have a duty” to drive to the homes of absent pupils and bring them into school, the education secretary has said. Gillian Keegan said levels of absence in schools was now “a crisis” with recent figures revealing that 125,000 pupils spent more time out of class than in.
The comments mark a radical change in direction for the government, which says it is keen to move away from prosecuting and fining parents for not ensuring their children are in school to a more “support-first” approach.
Asked if it was a good use of a headteachers’ time to pick a pupil up from home, Mrs Keegan said: “They [headteachers] do have a duty. We all have to play our part. Sometimes you have to go [to the home] or sometimes you have to text the parent in the morning. Sometimes you just have to do whatever is possible.
“That’s not what we want headteachers doing all of their days. But to be honest, right now, if that works to get somebody in school, it’s worth it.