Children lost more than school hours during covid — and the disadvantaged lost the most

On top of lockdowns and missed days due to illness, Tusla reports a surge in unexplained absences, and the data shows that disadvantaged children are the hardest hit

The pandemic brought with it shutdowns and absences due to illness, but there has also been a surge in unexplained absences. Disadvantaged children were hit particularly badly, with 57.6% of students in Deis Band 1 schools missing 20-plus days in 2021/22. Stock picture

As the current school year came to an end, data published by Tusla confirmed what many had suspected — the pandemic severely impacted school attendance.

The scale of it is still staggering. Between illness, emergencies, and other factors, overall, 24.7m school days were lost between September 2019 and the summer of 2022.