Schools could send more personalised text messages to parents of absent pupils to help tackle the national truancy “crisis”, a social mobility expert has said.
Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, warned that some families have “lost their belief that attending school regularly is necessary” for their children since the pandemic.
The development of effective engagement plans with parents could be a “game-changer” for encouraging more children to attend class, he said.
MPs on the Commons Education Select Committee have launched an inquiry to look at possible solutions to the growing issue of persistent absenteeism.
In a submission to the inquiry, Prof Elliot Major and Andy Eyles, from University College London (UCL), suggest that 40% of secondary pupils in England who qualified for free school meals were persistently absent during the 2021/22 autumn term – a rise from the pre-pandemic levels.
