Covid: Parents to 'risk truancy fines' if school cases rise

Some parents have said they are willing to take their children out of class and risk truancy fines if Covid cases rise now pupils are back in schools.

The reintroduction of truancy fines for parents who repeatedly keep their children off school is being reviewed after it was suspended during Covid.

Welsh government guidelines currently state pupils can attend school if someone they live with has Covid-19.

The government said some measures were removed due to the Covid jab rollout.

Mother-of-two Charlotte Harding said she was so happy her children were back in school, after so many months of having to stay at home.

"It is so important, my eldest was becoming quite reclusive during lockdown... I hope it doesn't happen again," she said.

However, Ms Harding, who lives in Rhondda Cynon Taf, has Sjgrens' Syndrome, an autoimmune disease which affects her lungs and causes chronic pain.

She said if Covid cases rose much further she would reluctantly withdraw them from school, and happily face a fine, if it kept her family "well and safe".

Charities have called on the Welsh government to take action to help vulnerable people while keeping schools open, saying parents are facing a "catch-22" choice between their family's health and education.

It comes as Wales' Covid infection rate remains high at 487 cases per 100,000 people - although it has dropped over the last week from a high of 558 - and Public Health Wales (PHW) reported eight further Covid deaths and 2,618 new cases on Friday.

Current Wales guidance means children remain home if they have Covid, or need to shield, but no longer have to stay off school if a parent or someone they live with tests positive for coronavirus. This is as long as they have no Covid symptoms and have a negative test.

Covid rules - such as wearing masks and bubbles - have eased in most schools across Wales, but in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot some measures have been reintroduced after cases spiked.

Parents have said they were desperate for their children to remain in class, but some feared they would soon have to reluctantly keep them at home due to the rules being "unsafe".

One mother, who does not want to be identified after facing trolling online, said she was delighted her son, five, was back in school, but was "terrified every day" he might catch Covid.

Having an underlying medical condition which could put her at higher risk, she said she was doing everything she could to keep her family safe, but parents were hugging at gates and not wearing masks.

"It is like feeding time at the zoo," she said.

"I drum it into him to wash his hands, but he puts things in his mouth...He's only five," she said.

"I'm not willing to gamble our lives for 10 days of education at home. Things are going to come to a point where I'm going to have to put my family's health ahead of my son's education."

Irene, from south east Wales, said restrictions should not be put back in place in schools, as children's lives needed to get back to some sense of normality after so much disruption.

She said her son had become disengaged and had struggled starting high school after lockdown, and was only starting to enjoy hobbies again.

"They are in a regulated setting, sitting down, they are already following so many rules," she said.

"If there is another winter lockdown I can see the schools and the children getting the blame again... but there's concerts and sporting events."

AIMS, a charity for people living with autoimmune diseases and Multiple Sclerosis, said action was needed to help those who were left facing a "double-edged sword" as they were desperate for children to remain in school.

Alison Coates, founder of the charity, said many who had lower immune systems were being really careful, as they could be more susceptible to getting sick despite having had the vaccine.

However she said they had no control over whether children catch it in schools, and the government needed to look at ways to help protect parents and siblings who were more vulnerable to Covid.

"These small vulnerable groups have been side-lined to a certain extent... we should be rallying around and trying to protect them," she said. "We cannot just lock people away and forget about them."

In England, the now former education secretary Gavin Williamson had already said parents would be fined "unless there is a good reason for absence" if they did not attend classes this term.

However, in Wales, while councils have the power to issues fines for unauthorised absences, the Welsh government had said it would "not be appropriate" during Covid.

The no-fining policy is under review, with officials considering whether to begin issuing the punishment if pupils remain at home.

The National Education Union Cymru said fines were not the answer and would damage the relationship between schools and parents.

The Welsh government said the guidance was "absolutely clear" and if a child had any Covid symptoms or had a positive test they must remain at home.

"The success of the vaccination programme has enabled the removal of some of the measures previously taken in schools," they said.

"To minimise disruption to schools, while keeping them safe, we have introduced a framework so that schools can increase measures to limit the spread of Covid, where health professionals have identified an increased risk locally."

A spokesperson added that when it came to fines "schools in Wales have provided a safe, secure and welcoming environment for pupils and staff".

"We'll continue to work together to make sure education continues for all children and young people, with as little disruption as possible," they said.