Headteachers should not authorise absences for pupils to attend protests, new Government guidelines have said.
The Department for Education (DfE) has published statutory guidance for schools and councils in England – which will come into effect in August – as part of its drive to boost attendance following the pandemic.
The ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance says: “Leave of absence should not be granted for a pupil to take part in protest activity during school hours.”
It comes after Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said in November that she was “deeply concerned” over the sight of pupils taking part in pro-Palestinian demonstrations during the school day.
School Strike for Palestine rallies have taken place across the UK, with images on social media showing events in cities including London, Bristol and Glasgow.
The current non-statutory attendance guidance for schools and councils – which was published in 2022 and will be replaced on August 19 by the Government’s new guidelines – does not mention protests.
The new guidance comes after centre-right think tank Policy Exchange said school leaders should not authorise absence to attend protests.
A report, published by the think tank in December, called on the DfE to update its attendance guidance to make it explicit that absence to attend protests was “unacceptable and should never be authorised”.
