Britain | Empty chairs

English schoolchildren are still missing months of classes

The pandemic is over. Persistent absence is the new epidemic

CHERTSEY, UNITED KINGDOM - MARCH 09: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Pupils gather in the playground ahead of their first day back from lockdown at Chertsey High School on March 09, 2021 in Chertsey, United Kingdom. Chertsey High school, which is part of the Bourne Education Trust, is continuing to conduct lateral flow testing within the school every 3 to five days until all children who have consented have completed three tests, before being asked to complete the tests at home. England's schools re-opened to pupils from March 8th, 2021 after closing for a third lockdown on January 5th, 2021.  (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
Image: Getty Images

Before the covid-19 pandemic, Liz Marsh’s daughter seemed to be coping better with debilitating anxieties. Diagnosed as autistic when she was six, she appeared to have found a school that worked reasonably well for her. Over the past two years, however, her problems have resurged. These days the ten-year-old rarely travels to her school in Leeds willingly; some days she simply lies down in their driveway. The problem is not that she doesn’t want to go to school, says her worried mother: “She just can’t.”

This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Empty chairs, quieter playgrounds”

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