Earlier this week, Education Minister Paul Givan launched a public consultation on a new draft strategy to improve school attendance and understand the reasons behind pupil absence.
The proposed Attendance Matters Strategy sets out six priority areas to support children and young people to attend school every day:
- Promoting a nurturing environment to understand and reduce Emotionally Based School Non Attendance (EBSNA);
- Ensuring inclusive strategies to promote positive behaviour;
- Using data to identify vulnerable children and young people and delivering early interventions;
- Understanding why children are missing from formal education and taking steps to address this;
- Piloting a whole community approach to improving attendance; and
- Transforming support for schools and settings.
However, parents and carers dealing with children and young people experiencing emotional-based school non-attendance and/or barriers to education feel both the consultation and statements from the Department of Education under the banner of Attendance Matters feel “tone deaf” and “out of touch” with what families are actually facing.
A parent from the Newtownabbey ABSA (Anxiety-based school avoidance) peer support group told Ni4kids: “When attendance becomes the focus, the complex emotional and environmental reasons children cannot cope with school are pushed to the margins.
“You cannot pressure a child into feeling safe. Attendance isn’t a behaviour to manage, it’s what happens when a child’s needs are met.
“What our families need is meaningful engagement that starts with listening and with recognising that school avoidance is so often a sign of unmet needs and systemic barriers, not parental failure. A strategy centred on targets and monitoring won’t change the lived reality of the children who are suffering.
“We need commitment to proper support, to removing barriers, and to creating environments where all children genuinely feel able to learn. Without this, attendance figures alone tell us nothing about children’s wellbeing. The parent added: “Rather than Attendance Matters we would like to see a shift towards Mental Health Matters instead.”
“School leaders have told me the impact of the pandemic on our children and young people should not be underestimated. This has consequences at primary and post-primary level, making the challenge of raising achievement and closing the gap more challenging.”
The Minister continued: “If a child is happy in school, they will feel a sense of belonging, feel safe and supported, and will want to attend.
“My Department’s updated attendance strategy reflects the importance of understanding why pupils are absent and the benefits of early intervention in strengthening our approach. It seeks to highlight the impact of non-attendance and seeks ways to put effective measures in place.”
Paul Givan concluded: “I would encourage all those with an interest in this issue, particularly families and schools, to respond to the consultation and ensure your views are heard as we collectively find ways to ensure attendance is valued and achieved.”
The consultation will run from 8th December to 6th March 2026 and can be found here – www.education-ni.gov.uk/
