Daily roundup: School truanting, disabled education, and social work training

Half of education welfare officers (EWO) that responded to a Unison survey reported a rise in the levels of truanting from school over the past year. EWOs said the main issues behind truancy occurring are housing problems, drop in family income due to benefit and welfare changes, lack of money for basics such as school uniform and lunch, family breakdown, substance misuse problems and bullying. Two-thirds of respondents said penalty fines for parents of truants had risen, while 42 per cent reported a rise in prosecutions.

The Alliance for Inclusive Education is holding a lobby of Parliament today to protest against provisions in the Children and Families Bill which take away the right of children and young people with a special education need to attend a mainstream school. As part of the lobby, the Alliance is launching a manifesto that demands a fully resourced inclusive education system and an end to segregation. An Alliance spokesperson described the government’s failure to provide disabled learners with a right to participate in mainstream education as a “national disgrace”.