truancy has skyrocketed in England. Children are skipping at least 10% of class now twice as much as before the pandemic. Specifically, these are children who missed between 10 and 50% of classes for no reason and who stopped going to in-person classrooms at the worst of the pandemic but now, with centers fully reopening, they continued to skip class regularly.

In total, in England there are over 140,000 ‘ghost children’. In the 3 years of the pandemic, the growth in absenteeism has been exponential, as it barely exceeded 60,000 before. Sergeant Harriet, a journalist, has explained that “There are students who cannot leave their roomswho are affected by anxiety, who are very sad.”

Anxiety, stress, depression and perceptions very negative about his academic future and professionals: these are some of the impacts of the pandemic on the mental health of young people.

This is also recognized by the latest report on the Situation of Education in Spain. Several cities, such as Castellón, Málaga, Córdoba or Elche have observed an increase in absenteeism after the reopening of education centers.

Macarena Romero, from the Political Incidents Department of the NGO ‘Entreculturas’, has assured that “the farther behind a student is left behind in the subjectthe greater the risk that they will disengage and eventually drop out of school.” In total, currently, in the world, there are 240 million out-of-school boys and girls.

“The reopening of schools does not heal the wounds of the pandemic, let alone solve the problems it has caused very high levels of poverty, inequality, and social exclusionwhich is the hidden face of absence, which existed before the pandemic,” stressed the expert.

Apart from that, this pandemic has also benefited many minors around the world who have fallen into a network of exploitation. Mishelle Mitchell, regional director of External Relations and Advocacy for World Vision Latin America explains that “These are families who have lost their livelihood and that has, to some extent, resulted in boys and girls being kicked out of school and forced into work in many cases.”