Sharp rise in parent prosecutions for term-time holidays
THE number of parents prosecuted in 2014 for taking their children on family holidays during term-time rose by 25% on the previous year, Ministry of Justice figures revealed.
A total of 16,430 parents were taken to court, 3,000 more than were prosecuted in 2013.
The information comes after concerns were raised over the high number of pupils missing school too often. Based on information released by the Department for Education, the North East is just above the national average in overall absence numbers and has the highest percentage nationally.
David Pearmain, Chairman of SCHOOLS NorthEast and former Head Teacher of Kenton School in Newcastle, spoke to BBC Radio Newcastle about the issue, saying that: “Schools and the Government are becoming stricter. But you don’t want the parent to get fined, you want the child to come to school.” Mr Pearmain added that even one day of school can make a significant difference in a child’s chances in life, following data released by the DfE that shows that even missing one week of school can make a pupil 25% less likely to get good GCSE results.
18 parents have also been given jail sentences in 2014, compared with seven the year before, and nearly 10,000 fines were issued by courts, up 30%.
Further information:
Truancy prosecutions for parents up by a quarter, say new figures (The Independent)
More parents in England prosecuted for taking children out of school (The Guardian)
Pupil absence data (DfE)