ShA school in Kent, UK decided to combat truancy, and to that end, it took measures to ensure its students had guaranteed transportation between their homes and their school.
The main users of this service are students in great financial difficulties, who live far from school and often have to make long journeys on public transport, which, says the BBC, discourages them from going to class.
The case used by the television network to illustrate the situation is that of Leo and Roxanne, two students who were expelled from their home with their mother last fall. They ended up re-housing in an apartment two bus rides away from the elementary school, a total of about 40 minutes of travel.
The mother, who suffers from mental health issues, was then unable to drive her children to school, resulting in frequent school absences.
When the education unit asked the mother of Kelsey, Leo and Roxanne why the children missed school so much, the woman admitted that she was experiencing difficulties in her personal life, and soon a “minibus” service was activated to collect students in the morning. Leave them at home again at the end of the day.
Kelsey said the measure “made a huge difference” and allowed the family to settle in until the children were soon after transferred to a school closer to home. This semester, Leo and Roxanne haven’t missed class once.
A recent report revealed that since the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of regular significant absences in the UK has doubled, mainly due to mental health problems and financial difficulties faced by families.
Missing classes can harm children’s learning and development [e] “Its future prospects,” said Robin Walker, chairman of the parliamentary committee responsible for this report.
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