Principal blames lockdowns and cuts for school absence crisis

A TYRONE post-primary principal has said he is ‘not surprised’ that school attendance rates over the last two years in the North have been the worst on record.

In both 2021/22 and 2022/23, about 30 per-cent of school pupils across the North had absence rates deemed ‘chronic’ or ‘severe chronic’.

These figures, obtained and published by the Department of Education, are worse than the corresponding numbers witnessed in England and Wales.

Last week, the North’s Department of Education (DoE) held an ‘Attendance Summit’ to address the pupil absence epidemic, bringing together representatives from across the education system.

Commenting on the grim reality confronting local schools, Michael Gormley, principal of Sacred Heart College in Omagh, said schools, pupils and parents were facing a ‘perfect storm’.

“The figures are worrying, but not surprising.

“What we are witnessing is probably the outworking of the pandemic, which for many pupils compounded their already existing anxiety around going to school, combined with financial cuts to services that provide essential support for pupils and their families,” Mr Gormley said.

“For many pupils, returning to school after the lockdowns was extremely difficult, and unfortunately the services many of them needed – and continue to need – have been cut.

“The truth is that the relevant funding is not what it needs to be and as a result essential support services are now being stretched to breaking point.”

FUNDING GAP

Last week, Permanent Secretary of the Department of Education, Dr Mark Browne, highlighted a funding gap in the region of £300m in 2023-24, claiming the education system in the North had been put in an ‘unacceptable position’.

As a school headmaster, Mr Gormley said that he sees first-hand the cost that these cuts are having on local pupils and their families.

“The cost of these cuts, in terms of the damage they are doing to pupils is huge.

“Pupils, who with the right support could be staying in school are now spending large parts of the year at home.

“Not only is this detrimental to their education, but it damages the improvement of their social and life skills, and can be devastating to their development as people.

“For some pupils, this will lessen their ability in future to be able to make a meaningful contribution to society.”

Turning to the question of what parents and pupils should do if emotional strain or mental health challenges is resulting in absences, Mr Gormley said, “The first port of call should be to contact the school and engage with the services that we suggest.

“The services we – and other schools – have in place are not there to punish, they are not punitive, they are there to help.

“The people who work for them are unbelievable, the work the do is truly fantastic, and they really are the unsung heroes of our education system.

“But, unfortunately, the funds are not being supplied there to employ as many of them as we need.

“These cuts, in my view, are extremely short-termist. By saving a few pounds now, they are creating a lot of problems in the future.”

However, not everybody shares Mr Gormley’s view.

Maura Dolan, who is principal of Omagh’s Holy Family Primary School, expressed a much more sanguine outlook when she spoke with the Tyrone Herald.

HOLISTIC EDUCATION

“Holy Family have not experienced this downward trend in pupil attendance.

“Holy Family, like other local schools, have excellent wraparound services in place to support our pupils and families, eg breakfast club and extended after school facilities.

“Parents appreciate the holistic education being offered to their child and welcome the return to the school routine and structure following school closures during the pandemic.

“School stakeholders and staff work tirelessly to support the education and well-being of the children in their care and even more so following the disruption to education in recent years.

“This supportive partnership between school and home has helped promote school attendance.”