Scottish Conservative politicians have described an increase in truancy levels among pupils in Perth and Kinross as “shocking.”
Murdo Fraser MSP and Councillor Caroline Shiers were commenting following the release of data to the Scottish Conservatives through Freedom of Information, which shows that the number of individual pupils who were truant dramatically rose from 2,885.5 in the 2020/21 academic year to 3,302.5 in the 2022/23 academic year. And the number of truancy instances also shot up from 3,062.5 to 3,589 during this period.
Perth and Kinross Council state that they use two codes for truancy or unexplained absence, which are ‘truancy or unexplained absence’ and ‘refusal to attend,’ and have confirmed that the data includes both of these codes.
Commenting, Mr Fraser said: “These truancy figures for pupils in Perth and Kinross are shocking. I am very concerned to see such a big increase in the number of truancy instances and the number of individual pupils’ marked truant during this timeframe – it is appalling to be honest.
“I am sure that many residents in Perth and Kinross will join me in expressing their dismay at these truancy figures for the region. I feel that children who are missing school time are missing out on vital education and as such, they are failing to reach their full potential by their absence from school. There will be some underlying reasons for the sharp rise in truancy rates in Perth and Kinross but it is a major issue that needs addressed immediately, and I call on Perth and Kinross Council to deal with it.”
Mr Fraser continued: “This problem is not just confined to Perth and Kinross however - it is a national issue. Recent research carried out for the OECD’s (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) Programme for International Student Assessment found that 21.9% of pupils in Scotland said they had skipped school at least one day in the past two weeks. This was up from 16.8% in 2018 and was higher than the OECD average of 14.6%. We see a disturbing pattern here and it is time the SNP Government looked into this matter.”
And Councillor Shiers, education spokesperson for the Scottish Conservatives in Perth and Kinross, added: “I know from discussions with schools that the reasons for the truancy levels are complex. There is considerable work being done to support young people in school and some innovative works being carried out locally to engage with those who aren’t attending regularly. However, fundamentally we do need to get pupils in to school so they can be educated and have a secure base for their futures.”
