Over a million children missed school sessions last year

Blunkett to Crack Down on Truants

Mr Blunkett has been shocked by the extent of truancy, which the party claims was "kept under wraps" by the Conservative government.

Nearly one million pupils were estimated to have missed at least half a day's session from school last year without permission or a note from their parents.

Of these, 568,000 were at primary school, and 410,000 at secondary school. The party accepts that these may include cases where parents have simply forgotten to provide a note, but the numbers are still thought to be unacceptably high.

Education Welfare officers have estimated that 800,000 pupils were unjustifiably absent in a survey last year. Mr Blunkett plans what is being billed as a "major assault" on the problem. His proposals, some of which were signalled by Labour during the general election, will include -

• Making attendance part of the home-school contract for all schools, so that parents and schools understand its importance and what sanctions are available for absence. Ministers are concerned that many parents are keeping youngsters off school during term time without good reason.
• Encouraging Local Education Authorities (LEAs), police and local traders to set up "truancy watch zones", to ensure truants are reported and recognised.
• Advising LEAs to use their existing powers to prosecute parents of persistent truants - a fine of up to £1,000 can be imposed. Ministers are reviewing whether further powers are necessary, but also want LEAs to use the ones they have got.
• Ensuring that where education inspectors find truancy is a serious problem, LEAs are quizzed on what is being done to tackle it.
• Building on good practice in some LEAs, including making children register by computer for every lesson. Developing the idea of "city passes", used in Newcastle, enabling police to check whether a pupil has authorisation for being out of school.
• Ministers are also looking at a partnership between the Further Education sector and business to tackle the problems of disaffection among 14 and 15-year-olds - as is being tried in Wigan and Cambridgeshire - and how the youngsters can be motivated to take an interest in school.
• They are also considering a scheme being tried in Dorset where people act as welfare assistants or "mentors" to truants.