5/7/2008 6:45:00 AM
The Times 7 May
A hard core of more than 40,000 children are missing at least two days of school every week, with a further 300,000 children at risk of falling into similar levels of truancy, figures show. The latest government data indicate a rising number of pupils playing truant and being allowed to skip school, with a persistent band of 44,000 truants attending school for fewer than three days a week. The figures, for the autumn term last year, show another 300,000 missed more than 14 days – equal to one day a week. That was 16,000 more than the previous year. Teachers’ leaders blamed the trend on “deep-rooted social problems” which schools could not tackle on their own. Political opponents used the figures to claim that the Government’s tactic of fining the parents of truants was failing to address the problem. Overall, pupils missed an average of almost four days of school in the autumn term last year, compared with 3.74 over the same period in 2006. Authorised absence rose from 5.04 days to 5.32 over the same period.Times
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