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Climate strike students take on councillors

Attendance
​Youth climate strikers in Edinburgh have criticised the council for limiting authorised absences for the protests to one school day per year.

The ruling by the SNP-Labour coalition follows emergency motions by Green councillors that allowed pupils to join climate protests with parental permission on two separate occasions earlier this year.

However, officials said the “potential for adverse risk to children who are absent and unsupervised is high and runs counter to child protection and raising attainment”.

Thousands of young people took part in school strikes at the Scottish Parliament building in March and May, with smaller groups protesting every Friday, as part of a wider UK movement in more than 100 towns and cities.

However, most headteachers were reported to be unhappy with councillors approving the absences.

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