British education system faces tough times - students who studied during covid lockdowns got their learning damaged‚ and now theres even more problems. Teacher strikes took away 25 million school-days‚ but thats not all: teachers sick-leave adds another 2‚5 million lost days (which is really bad news for kids education)
The numbers dont look good: about 66% of UK teachers called-in sick last year‚ way more than before covid times. Each teacher missed around 8 days - its like having 13‚700 empty teacher spots every single day. These sick-days rules need a re-check; especially now when teachers got their pay-rise
Studies show scary results: kids who started school in pandemic times will probably get 4-5% lower GCSE scores than other students. Dr James Richardson from Education Policy Institute says: this will affect many groups of students up until 2030s
Student attendance is getting worse too - its like a snow-ball effect:
- 1 in 50 kids misses half of school year
- 1 in 14 students skips classes regularly
- More empty seats on Fridays (parents might be planning long weekends)
Parents seem to care more about their own plans than kids education; making long weekends before holidays. School leaders need to fix this fast - both teachers and students should show up in class more often‚ or British education might face even bigger troubles in coming years