Nearly 90,000 days lost as pupils truant

Almost 90,000 school days in Rochdale were lost due to unauthorised absence last year, new figures have revealed.

Secondary school pupils were the worst culprits, accounting for most of the absences, with very few recorded in primary schools across the area.

The statistics include truancy, lateness and children who skip school because their parents have taken them on holiday.

The statistics for 2007-8 show 1.58% of all half-day absences were unauthorised in Rochdale — the equivalent of 175,432 half day sessions or 87,716 school days — up from 82,110 days (1.45%) the previous school year.

Figures also show that 1,053 children across the town persistently missed school, missing about a fifth of lessons with or without permission, according to figures released by the Department for Children, Schools and Families. The previous year the figure was 1,336.

Children and young people’s Minister Delyth Morgan said: “Making sure a child attends school is also down to parents not providing excuses for their child’s absence. Schools and local authorities are providing support to parents and penalising those parents who regularly flout this responsibility by using the range of measures available to them, such as parenting contracts.

“The statistics show a decrease in persistent absence of 12.2% from 2006-07 to 2007-08, which shows that our approach is the right one.”

Nationally more than 233,000 children were classed as persistent absentees.

Unauthorised absence rate rose to the highest level on record, with 1.01% of half-days missed last year — up from 1% in 2006-07. This means that around 63,000 children were away from class during any given school session.