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School pupil absence rate in East Lothian remains nearly double pre-Covid levels

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
AuthorMarie Sharp
Published date21 June 2022
Publication titleEdinburghLive (Scotland)
Education chiefs recorded a 13.2 per cent absence rate among children and young people on Friday last week, compared to 13.4 per cent on the same day last year

But while the rate shows a slight dip in 12 months it remains far above the absence rate for the same period in 2019 which was just over eight per cent.

The figures come as a meeting of the council's education committee today received what head of education Nicola McDowell said she hoped was their last ever Covid update report.

Mrs McDowell praised teachers and staff for their hard work during the pandemic and revealed some of the restrictions, which had been introduced were being retained by some schools after they were found to have benefits.

They include one way systems, staggered starting times and virtual parent teacher meetings.

However Mrs McDowell revealed one Covid practice, which would end would be enhanced cleaning.

She said: "A decision has just been made that enhanced cleaning will end at the summer break. We will still have some fogging in schools."

The reduced cleaning requirements will mean the council's facilities staff who have been drafted in to keep schools safe at the expense of other services such as public toilets will be able to return to normal duties.

A report on Covid regulations revealed schools were now able to make their own decisions over which restrictions to continue with some systems introduced during the pandemic found to benefit staff and pupils permanently.

It said: "Schools have been empowered to make their own local decisions about the cessation or retention of some COVID mitigations.

"For example, for some schools, one-way systems have proved to be particularly successful, as have...

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