I was shocked to hear that 100,000 children have failed to return to school across the UK since the end of the education lockdown.
Many of these children will not have been seen by their teachers for two years yet schools are the first line of defence in the fight against child abuse.
That’s why it’s important to know who these children are and why they’ve not returned. I have been assured by the Welsh Education Minister that every effort is being made both by schools and by education authorities to contact these parents.
I know some are still worried about their children catching Covid, especially if they have other health conditions. Others have decided to home-school their children. The vast majority will have a valid reason but we must always be aware that there will be others with ulterior motives for keeping their children out of sight.
In England, the Education Secretary is to make it compulsory for all education authorities to keep registers of children being home-schooled. Apart from identifying who these children are, it is also important to monitor the quality of the education being provided.
I will be urging Welsh Labour to impose a similar requirement in Wales. There have been some hideous cases of child murder in the press of late so we must make sure that the safety of our children is paramount.
