School absences increasing in Kent

by Nicole Muller

Unauthorised absences in Kent schools have reached an all-time high, according to government statistics.

Fears have been raised after new figures revealed that a staggering 15,000 pupils were missing from schools in Kent over just two terms in 2011. Authorities are now warning that the parents of persistently absent children could be fined or even prosecuted if they do not make sure they attend school regularly.

Eric Parkinson, Principal Lecturer of Primary Education at Canterbury Christ Church University, believes that fining parents will do little good, and instead more focus should be placed upon why these children are consistently absent in the first place.

Previously, children who missed 20 per cent of school would be classed as being a persistently absent pupil. However, the government recently changed this to 15 per cent in an attempt to tackle the problem.

Kent County Council has been conducting ‘truancy sweeps’ alongside the police, in order to keep track of truanting children across the county, and police have already begun fining parents if their child is found out of school on a regular basis.

This has raised the question as to whether this is an effective means of stopping the problem.

Eric Parkinson argued that punishing the parents will have little impact, and instead perhaps more focus be placed upon the reasons why so many children in Kent do not attend school.