1 IN 3 PUPILS SKIP SCHOOL

Lack of mental health support is blamed for shock absence rates

- VIVIENNE AITKEN

ONE in three Scots pupils was “persistently absent” from school last year.

New truancy f igures showed 32 per cent of pupils were absent for an average of at least one day a fortnight.

The Scottish Government has admitted the figures are “not acceptable” and claimed school absence was now a “post-Covid challenge”.

Opposition politicians and charity workers, however, blame the government’s failure to provide mental health support for children as a key factor.

As well as the fall in attendance, the figures also show an increase in exclusions – up 40 per cent in two years.

Lib Dem education spokes man Willie Rennie said the absence rates “are a sign of young people who are disengaged, stressed and distracted”.