A young carer from Wales has described how hard it is getting to school with responsibilities at home and said some of his teachers “didn’t care”. Dylan Thomas, 18, from Newport, lives alone with his father who he has looked after throughout childhood.
Dylan, 18, who is campaigning for more support for young carers, did not want to publicly name the school he attended in the city, because some teachers were helpful, although “only one or two”, he said.
The teenager said looking after his father left him so exhausted he fell asleep in classes and missed two months of school in sixth form - he said he was “lucky” to get two A levels. Barnardo’s Cymru said disproportionately high numbers of young carers have difficulty accessing education.
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One problem is having to have high attendance to get the Education Maintenance Allowance to help with costs as young carers often have to miss classes to look after relatives, sometimes at short notice. Describing his time at school in Newport, Dylan said: “Only one or two teachers understood, others didn’t care if I went missing. I ended up losing out on two months of lessons and I’m lucky I still managed to get two A-levels.
“There are lots of young carers with caring responsibilities but so few teachers really understand how difficult it can be for us just getting to school every day. Being a young carer can be very hard when you are trying to get to school, college or a job. It is not a situation we can control. I never claimed the EMA because I knew I wouldn’t be able to meet the attendance demands and I found the application so complicated.”
Describing life at home, Dylan said it got worse just before he had to start seriously working towards vital exams.
“I help look after my dad and things got worse when I was about 13. When I got to sixth form I would be in for about two weeks and then miss a day because I wasn’t getting enough sleep or I had to look after my dad. I was stressed and sleep deprived and ended up not going to school for two months. There should be more leniency around the EMA. I was spending £2.20 a day just to get to school and the EMA would have helped.”
Dylan is part of Barnardo’s Newport Young Carers, a group which took their campaign for more support to the Senedd this week. Young people who take care of sick or disabled family members are calling for extra understanding and support to help them through their education.
Dylan and other members from Barnardo’s Newport Young Carers met MS for Newport East John Griffiths at the Senedd to tell him about challenges they face trying to combine school or college with looking after a relative at home. Barnardo’s Newport Young Carers are calling for greater awareness in schools and also a change to the EMA which provides £30 a week for 16 to 19 year-olds from low-income families who are in full-time education.
At the moment students can lose their allowance if their attendance dips, something the young carers say doesn’t take into account their special circumstances. Having to deal with regular family health crises or relatives’ medical appointments or care can seriously impact their attendance at school or college, Barnardo’s said.
Young carers also say the allowance, which helps fund books and travel, is too low and should be raised. Miles Smith, 17, also from Newport, attends college and receives the EMA but says his younger brother misses out to look after their mother so Miles doesn’t lose his EMA payments.
“Some of my text books are £30 or £40 each so it doesn’t go far and you have to hit pretty much 100 per cent attendance to get it, so now my brother is staying home from school to look after my mum sometimes so I don’t lose out,” he said.
Barnardo’s Cymru’s work supports young carers and organises activities for them on behalf of Newport City Council to give them a break from their caring roles. Assistant director of Barnardo’s Cymru Mark Carter, said young carers face difficulties with their education: "Young carers often need to overcome barriers in their families, schools and social lives impacted by their caring.
"We see disproportionately high numbers of young carers experiencing difficulties with education and socially engaging with friends and peers. They are often faced with financial disadvantages too, particularly at present when we have a cost of living crisis.”
John Griffiths MS said he will take up the young carers’ concerns with Education Minister Jeremy Miles: “I really value and appreciate the great work young carers do and the positive contribution they make to our society. I listened to some of the challenges that young carers are facing, especially regarding EMA payments and some ideas as to how schools and colleges can best support and accommodate their learning.
“I believe Welsh Government should continue to take a collaborative and partnership approach in addressing the challenges by working with young carers and the organisations that represent them. “We need more influential people listening to young carers and learning about their lived experiences so we can help improve their lives.”
A Newport Council spokesperson said: "The council is proud to fund the Newport Young Carers project through our Families First programme. The project does excellent work supporting young carers in Newport.
"We think it is very important that the voices of young carers are heard, and we will continue to work with the project to raise awareness of young carers’ needs in our schools."
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