It is hard to find any good news in the latest truancy league table showing that Bradford has the third highest rate of unauthorised absences in the country. However, a spokesman for Education Bradford makes a commendable stab at doing so today, claiming that the high absence figures "have mainly come about as a result of a success story for Bradford schools".
That success story, apparently, is the tight way the rules are applied in the district, which includes marking down pupils as absent if they are late for school or if the school is not told promptly that they are off sick. Whether or not that distorts the picture compared to other parts of the country, the fact remains that Bradford has a poor record beaten only by Manchester and Greenwich and with the best will in the world not many people looking at that bottom line will be able to see much to celebrate in it.
Both Education Bradford and the Council seem to be working hard to address this problem. Hundreds of parents are being taken to court for failing to ensure that their children attend school. The prospect of a large fine and even imprisonment surely should help to get the message across to parents that they have a duty to ensure that their children attend school. And yet still the figures, whether they accurately reflect the true picture or not, show no real improvement.
As Councillor Dale Smith, executive member for education, rightly observes, the authorities need to redouble their efforts. And so too, it seems, do the truants' parents.
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