Martyn Groucutt, an Independent councillor in Monmouthshire, has spoken out about the very slow recovery of school attendance since the pandemic. His latest report focusing on this 2024/25 academic year confirms that while attendance has greatly recovered, it still hasn’t come back to where it was before the pandemic hit. Access to safe public transportation is now one of the burning issues of our time, as families are adjusting to work-from-home setups.
Speaking at a council scrutiny meeting, Groucutt had defined school attendance as the “elephant in the room.” What has changed, he said, is families have “completely halted moving very quickly” back to the attendance numbers learned prior to the pandemic. Primary pupils in Monmouthshire now have an attendance rate of 93.6% and secondary school pupils 88.2%. By contrast, the all-Wales figures are 92.2% of primary pupils and 88.1% of secondary pupils.
Groucutt pointed out that the secondary school attendance recovery rate is especially alarming. As he noted, that’s why an avalanche of parents are just now calling schools asking if their kids should even show up.
“Parents are contacting schools saying ‘I work from home three days a week, why can’t my children do the same?’ It doesn’t work like that.” – Councillor Groucutt
The Welsh government made an attempt to address this two years ago. They were concerned with earlier school absences by releasing new guidance. Groucutt’s findings may point to a troubling trend of disinterest and disengagement with secondary students. They are less active than their main party counterparts.
According to Groucutt, previously head of education in Monmouthshire, this unregulated sector can work wonders for some home-educated children. He added it’s no substitute for face to face learning for most kids.
“I’m not saying home education should never happen but the vast, vast majority of children need to be with their friends, peers and community learning.” – Councillor Groucutt
The councillor’s comments expose even more of a fundamental difficulty in public education. It fails to fix what we all know are the deep, lasting impacts of the pandemic. The shift toward flexible working arrangements among parents may be influencing perceptions of school attendance, leading to questions about the necessity of traditional schooling.
