It is not helping when Rhondda Cynon Taf Council cuts School Transport
Save School Transport RCT Group had a meeting with the Welsh Government Transport on Monday, 17th November.
This meeting was very positive. We have so many questions for them we could only do 5. However they have agreed for us to forward the rest and answer them as quickly as possible.
I think there was around 20 in all. Some questions will have to go to different divisions.
Another meeting has been agreed for early 2026.
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Average school attendance in Wales reached 90.9% in the 2024–25 academic year, an improvement on last year, but still far below the 94.3% seen before the pandemic in 2018–19.
Attendance remains significantly lower among pupils eligible for free school meals, and concerns over persistent absence, pupils missing more than 10% of sessions, continue to grow.
Education inspectorate Estyn has warned that secondary school attendance is “stubbornly low” and, at the current rate of progress, could take more than a decade to return to pre-pandemic levels.
Commenting, Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education, Natasha Asghar MS, said:
“Labour is failing to get a grip on the soaring absenteeism in our schools, particularly amongst the most disadvantaged pupils in Wales.
“Education under Labour in Wales is a story of soaring absenteeism, a shocking decline in education standards, the worst PISA results in the UK, rising incidences of violence plaguing our schools and pupils leaving school functionally illiterate. Our teachers and the entire Welsh education system is at breaking point.
“Our plans to restore discipline and respect in schools via a crackdown on poor behaviour, including the automatic exclusion of learners who bring knives and other weapons into a school, would make schools safer and boost attendance.
“After 26 years in charge Labour’s record on education is shocking, it is clear Wales deserves better, only the Welsh Conservatives can fix the Welsh education system.”
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