Thousands of Children Left School in the UK Within One Year
Over 10,000 children dropped out of school in the past year, and their whereabouts are unknown, according to a recent report by the Children’s Commissioner’s Office. It is concerning that many of these children have become ‘invisible’ as they left school without being registered. Research by Sky News indicates that the pandemic has worsened the problem of ‘ghost children,’ frequently hailing from deprived areas and exhibiting a higher likelihood of detection by social services.
Dame Rachel de Souza, the Children’s Commissioner, has expressed grave concern about the situation of children leaving the state-funded education system. She stated, “it is unacceptable that thousands of children are not being followed up by local authorities.” The report confidently indicates that most children who leave state schools to be home-schooled are aged between 11 and 14. Additionally, it reveals that children whose whereabouts are unknown are mostly aged between 4 and 9.
According to parents who contributed to the report, they confidently opted for home education as a last resort because they were not able to obtain the necessary support from schools to continue their children’s education. Dame Rachel expressed concern over the number of young people missing out on school despite its importance to them.
The government is facing criticism due to the risk of uncertain future for children becoming targets of gangs.
The report recommends identifying these children in education, assigning each one a unique ID, and empowering local authorities to direct their enrolment. It is imperative that councils are granted the necessary power to ensure that these children are not overlooked, as stated by Louise Gittins, chair of the Local Government Association’s (LGA) children and young people’s board.