Teachers Told Not to Give Pupils Time Off for Protests

The Department for Education (DfE) has told headteachers not to give pupils time off school for protests. It comes after a report published last year called on the department to explicitly ban the practice of allowing so-called school strikes for Palestine. In new statutory guidance on school attendance, published on Thursday, the DfE said: “Leave of absence should not be granted for a pupil to take part in protest activity during school hours.” The new guidance is set to replace the current version on Aug. 19. Since November last year, children across Britain have joined pro-Palestine protests. Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said at the time that she was “deeply concerned” over the sight....