School pupils wearing their masks at their desks
(Picture: PA Archive)The number of children absent from schools in England due to Covid-related reasons is set to hit the one million mark, it was warned on Friday.
Government data released on Tuesday revealed almost 840,000 children were out of class last week.
Now sources forecast the figure will reach one million before the end of term, with teachers having to move entire cohorts to online working due to Covid rules. Some London schools have decided to shut their doors early and go online-only before the end of term.
Tory MP and chair of the education select committee Robert Halfon said: “We have Argentinian levels of hyperinflation in terms of children being sent home. Three weeks ago it was 385,000 children. Now we’ve got 800,000 children being denied a full education. We’re destroying these children’s life chances.”
He added: “One million children in our country being denied an education. What on earth are we doing to these kids?”
School leaders warned that the final days of the school term were being made “extremely challenging” by unclear government guidance.
A spokesperson from the Department for Education said: “Our priority is for schools and colleges to deliver face-to-face, high quality education to all pupils as we know that being out of education causes significant harm to life chances.”
