'High levels of anxiety driving school absences'

Attendance across Guernsey is not yet back to pre-Covid levels

A teaching union representative has said rising levels of anxiety faced by students is one of the problems driving absences in schools across Guernsey.

Paul Montague, a teacher of 30 years and representative for the National Education Union (NEU) said the mental health challenges faced by students was a key concern for his members.

Mr Montague said teachers were working "incredibly hard" but would welcome additional support from the government to tackle the problem.

He said: "When you have a student who is not there regularly it's really hard to have the continuity of teaching to help that child make progress."

Mr Montague said anxiety in students was a genuine problem.

"Staff and civil servants are trying to address it but we do need more resources," he said.

Guernsey educators are among those across the British Isles struggling to boost attendance rates, which are yet to return to pre-Covid levels.

'Fines may not be effective'

Earlier this year Education said it was aiming for an attendance of at least 95% across Guernsey's schools, compared with rates of 94% in primary and 87% in secondary schools during the last academic year.

Nick Hynes, Guernsey's director of education, agreed teachers needed help to "fix the problems facing young people".

He said: "Good attendance is everyone's business and I think we need to make sure schools have high expectations which are communicated to parents."

But he added issuing fines to parents - as is the system in England - may not be effective.

It comes as plans to bring in fines for parents who don't ensure their children's attendance as part of Guernsey's Education Law review were not progressed.

Mr Hynes said: "The evidence is patchy about whether or not it has a positive impact. Some local authorities use it extensively and some don't use it at all."