April 17th 2012
The government adviser Charly Taylor has published a proposal, whereby headteachers can impose a fine, on parents whose children miss school, of 60 pound for truancy. If the fine is not paid within 28 days, the fine will rise to 120 pound. In his proposal, this amount of money would be deducted automatically from child benefit. Parents who do not receive child benefit have to appear in court. In the past school year there was an absence of 9,5%. The government adviser thinks that some parents allow their children to miss lessons and they refuse to pay the fine. He also wants time targets for schools which have a high percentage of truancy. He wants these schools to reduce their absence rate.
Opinion:
Apparently it is very easy to skip lessons from school at the moment. So, I think this proposal would be a very good measure to stimulate school attendance. At the moment, no further steps are taken by the headmaster if the parents do not pay their fine. Parents should be aware that their children cannot see the consequences of their truancy. It is so important for pupils to follow lessons, otherwise they will not have good opportunities in their future career. When parents will receive less money from child benefit, they will think twice, and hopefully they will pay more attention to the school attendance of their children.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/apr/16/truancy-fines-deducted-from-child-benefit
Do you really think this issue is resolved by giving parents a fine? Loads of parents already struggle to pay the bills. They won't be able to pay a truancy fine even if their life depended on it and it's not necessarily the parents' fault that their child isn't attending school. Back in the day my parents weren't aware that I was skipping classes, I lied, made excuses etc. So how are they to blame for my lack of motivation?
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