School absences of grave concern according to expert

With calls for an urgent government report investigation into children missing school following an inquiry by the Children, Young People and Education Committee, expert, Jane Kenyon from social enterprise Girls Out Loud comments:

“This is an increasing problem across schools all over the UK and has certainly been exacerbated by the pandemic and the current cost of living crisis.

For many young people, school isn’t just a place for education, it’s the only safe place they have. Somewhere they can be warm and get a hot meal when things at home are bleak. With so many struggling during this time, parents are finding it harder to afford school uniforms, books and even bus fares.

Being kept at home puts young girls at increased risk of online abuse, grooming, isolation and mental health problems not to mention being subjected to the issues that many face in their home environment.

Our intervention programmes at Girls Out Loud allow us access to girls so urgently in need of support and what we’re seeing in schools currently is a huge decline in services and resources at a time when there has never been a greater need.

The current system is failing our younger generations who are being forced to pay a very high price for the mistakes made by their seniors. We can’t allow this to continue.

We desperately need more government support to ensure that the education, safety and wellbeing of a generation who are in danger of being left behind, is put at the very top of the list of priorities.”

Girls Out Loud, which is passionate about inspiring and empowering teenage girls to find their voices, harness their self-belief and maximise their potential, works with schools across the North-West, offering early intervention programmes including ‘Big Sister’ mentoring programmes which has helped thousands of girls for over a decade. The programme also has the ear of thousands of women too, who step up to be mentors and role model advocates.