THE DECEIT FUL EIGHT..

Secret number revealed that makes school attendance look much better than it really is

SCHOOLS are using a secret code that helps Education Minister Peter Weir “spin” attendance figures, it has been claimed.

Mr Weir claims classes are enjoying almost 100% pupil attendance – supporting calls to keep colleges open during the pandemic.

But teachers have reportedly been told to use a special code – a figure eight – to mark children who are absent because they are sick with Covid-19 or isolating.

They are then counted as “present”, rendering attendance figures practically meaningless.

Teaching union NASUWT has called on the minister to “stop putting a spin on this” and giving a perception that “all is well, when it’s far from it”. One dad told the Mirror that families want “facts not flam” and said: “Peter Weir claims only 1,400 school kids have been impacted by Covid.

“Children who have tested positive and deemed close contacts are being marked as still attending school when they are nowhere near the place and not being educated.

“In West Belfast alone the week before the circuit breaker more than 1,000 kids were out of school and 130 teachers and there is no

agreed remote teaching model, which i s

scandalous.

“We want the data, we want to know how widespread this is and we can see anecdotally amongst our children and their peers that there’s no way the attendance rate is 94%.

“Entire year forms have been absent, entire schools have been closed. We need the truth, we want facts not flam.”

Mr Weir told the Mirror that attendance rates have been sitting between 91% and 95% but they only account for those children who are not off sick with Covid-19, other bugs or isolating at home.

He said: “We record figures particularly in terms of the pupils’ attendance and there’s like a code put down if someone is tested positive with coronavirus or if they’re self-isolating.

“Once you take those children out of the picture, and also those who are [sick], children who have picked up a range of bugs generally, the level of school attendance has f luctuated somewhere between 91% and 95%.

“The average figure for the year is around 94%. So that would suggest there is some level of impact but it’s not so dramatic that it’s led to large scale absences from school.”

Asked by Alliance MLA Chris Lyttle for the numbers of teaching staff, nonteaching staff and pupils who have been or are in self-isolation this academic year, the Minister referred to a schools’ survey.

Mr Weir would not be drawn on how many completed the questionnaire which had roughly a 65% return rate.

So although he presented percentages, no figures were given for the actual number affected.

In Northern Ireland, every school that experiences an adult or child who presents with a Covid-19 positive test or someone identified as affected due to being a close contact has their details recorded.

Justin Mccamphill from the NASUWT said: “There is clearly an issue in schools, a crisis that has resulted in a two-week break instead of the sixweek break recommended by the scientists.

“The minister must stop putting a spin on this.

“We want the government to go back to the model from June with the alternating week model and follow the science, listen to the experts, the people who wanted schools and everything else to lock down for six weeks.

“If we’re to move forward we need facts, we need a way to do it, a plan, extra buses, a way to socially distance in schools and a way to circuit break infections d e cl ared insi d e sc schools.

“Claiming school attendances are more than 90% is not helpful when Code 8 is being used to skew the figures and disguise absences.

“It’s trying to create a feeling that all is well, when it’s far from it.” There have been 608 Covid-19 incidents at schools, data from the Public Health Agency has shown.

A total of 519 colleges – 373 primaries, 202 post-primaries and 33 special schools – had either a case or a cluster of cases up to October 20.

Half of the 1,000 schools in Northern Ireland have had at least one Covid-19 case in a pupil or member of staff.

The majority, 302, refer to a single positive case, 237 had a cluster of two to five cases and 69 had more than five.

The highest proportion, 76%, were reported in the Belfast council area.

A PHA bulletin al so reported receiving notification of 2,030 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in schools

CRITICISM Peter Weir