The holidays are a memory, and school is in full swing(全面展开，如火如荼). But an alarming number of pupils are staying away. Before covid-19 one in ten children were “persistently absent” from English schools, meaning they missed 10% or more of their lessons.(新冠疫情之前，英格兰每十个孩子中就有一个“长期缺勤”，即缺课比例达到或超过10%。) Now nearly one in five are.
假期已成往事，学校正全面开课。但数量惊人的学生却选择不来上学。新冠疫情之前，英格兰每十个孩子中就有一个“长期缺勤”，即缺课比例达到或超过10%。如今，这一比例已接近五分之一。
Missing school is costly(代价高昂的). The Department for Education calculates that persistently absent students earn £10,000 ($13,500) less per year by age 28 than their peers with near-perfect attendance records. Children who are persistently absent are more likely to end up in prison(最终锒铛入狱), take drugs and harm themselves. Britain has more than 1m NEETs—young adults not in education, employment or training—who cost the state over £120bn in benefits and lost output.(英国有超过100万“尼特族”——即不升学、不就业、不参加培训的年轻人——他们领取的福利和造成的产出损失让国家付出超过1200亿英镑的代价。) Their ranks are full of those who were school absentees.
缺课的代价高昂。英国教育部测算，长期缺勤的学生到28岁时，年收入比出勤近乎全勤的同龄人少1万英镑（约合1.35万美元）。长期缺勤的孩子更可能锒铛入狱、沾染毒品、自残自伤。英国有超过100万“尼特族”——即不升学、不就业、不参加培训的年轻人——他们领取的福利和造成的产出损失让国家付出超过1200亿英镑的代价。这些人当中，有大量曾是学校里的缺勤者。
Although international comparisons are tricky, the data suggest that in much of the OECD, a club of mostly rich countries, the rate of absenteeism remained flat after the covid-19 pandemic.(尽管跨国比较并不容易，但数据显示，在经合组织（一个以富国为主的俱乐部）的多数成员国，疫情之后缺勤率基本持平。) But it rose in English-speaking countries. Britain has a particular problem with severe absence. The proportion of pupils missing more than 50% of classes reached a record high in the 2025-26 school year.
尽管跨国比较并不容易，但数据显示，在经合组织（一个以富国为主的俱乐部）的多数成员国，疫情之后缺勤率基本持平。但在英语国家，缺勤率却上升了。英国的重度缺勤问题尤为突出。2025-26学年，缺课超过一半的学生比例创下历史新高。
Like snail unwillingly
像蜗牛一样不情愿