Work-From-Home Parents Fueling Rise in Friday School Absences: Minister

The education secretary has criticised parents for letting children miss school, noting a rise in Friday absences. Gillian Keegan wrote in The Times of London on Friday that “there are regularly 50,000 more pupil absences on Fridays compared with Mondays, which could be linked with many parents working from home.” “We are very clear: it is unacceptable to take a deliberate decision to take your child out of school,” Ms. Keegan wrote, adding that it matters because “every day a child is absent means they will miss on average five to six lessons — time they will never get back.” Analysis by The Epoch Times of overall school absences in England from the week beginning Sept. 11, 2023 to April 19, 2024, found that Fridays had the highest absence rate at 7.8 percent, with Monday absences in second, at 7.1 percent. Wednesdays had the lowest absence rate at 6.6 percent....