Once again there is little comfort for Bradford in the latest schools league tables. To have nine of the district's schools named as being among the worst in the country for truancy, and five named as being down at the bottom of the class as far as GCSE results are concerned, is deeply depressing. It does not bode well for the future of the district that so many of its children care so little about their education.

Once again Eccleshill Upper School is down there with the worst truancy performers. It has managed to claw its way up from bottom position nationally to the next to the bottom, which is an achievement of sorts. But it can hardly be regarded as a triumph for the school.

Headteacher Neil Donkin is no doubt right, though, when he says that parents can be part of the problem because they fail to instil in their children the belief that education is relevant to their lives. If pupils are to do well, parents need to work closely with a school and support its efforts. There are too many households where this is not happening.

The Council has applied to the Government for a slice of the £500 million set aside to tackle issues such as absenteeism. But with or without that cash, the LEA needs to have an action plan in place to support staff and somehow motivate both pupils and parents.

The impending reorganisation of Bradford schools offers an ideal opportunity to build this plan into the new system and lift the district's truancy record off the deck.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.