Responding to a BBC Wales story revealing nearly a quarter of pupils in Wales – just over 90,000 - were absent from school in the last full week of term, Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Education, Laura Anne Jones said:
“It is absolutely vital that Labour ministers in Cardiff Bay follow through on their plans to scrap bubbles within when youngsters return in September because we cannot afford to let our children miss out on any more learning.
“Having 90,000 pupils off school, and 33,800 of them off for covid-related reasons, is simply unacceptable given the amount of time they have already been out of the classroom since the pandemic started.
“Positive test results have caused huge amounts of chaos in our schools because large groups of staff and students have been forced to go home, so changes to the Welsh Labour Government’s coronavirus rules in schools clearly can’t come soon enough.
“Students and teachers need to return to a productive school environment in September, after what has been an awfully challenging 18 months.”