Ministers say a few schools account for a large amount of truancy
|
The government has named 198 secondary schools in England which are the focus of its drive against "serial truants".
Schools Minister Jacqui Smith said last September that a hard core of schools were responsible for more than 8,000 persistent truants.
In response to a request under the Freedom of Information Act, the government has named those schools.
Latest official figures showed absenteeism in secondary schools had increased by more than 10% in 2004-05.
The rates were the highest since 1994, and the government received criticism after having spent almost �900m on anti-truancy measures since 1997.
Fast track
The government has extended the number of schools targeted from 146 to 198.
The schools must identify pupils to be placed on a "fast track to attendance" scheme and assigned a truancy officer.
If a child's attendance does not improve within 12 weeks, court action against parents can be triggered, leading to a fine of up to �2,500 or three months' imprisonment.
 |
Most computers will open PDF documents automatically, but you may need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader.
|
More than 18,000 parents have been placed on the scheme so far, the government says.
Local authorities also have powers to issue penalty notices and compel parents to enter parenting contracts.
But the truancy figures, which are provisional and based on the percentage of half days missed in 2004-05, showed that overall unauthorised absence in all schools was also up - to 0.79%.
Rates of absence in all schools, both authorised and unauthorised, decreased slightly to 6.45%.
The government says its efforts to discourage parents from allowing children to take term-time holidays are paying off.
In response to the figures, Ms Smith said schools were "treating absenteeism more rigorously, challenging questionable reasons for absence and cracking down on unnecessary time out of school".
She said overall school attendance continued to rise, and 8,000 more pupils regularly attended school every day - 50,000 more than in 1996-97.
One-Minute World News
News services
E-mail this to a friend
Printable version
