New figures show worrying rise in truancy across Haringey 18/11/05

Peter Forrest, spokesman for Haringey Conservatives today pointed to newly published figures showing that truancy has soared across Haringey's secondary schools, and warned this was damaging children’s welfare and could lead to more petty crime in Haringey. Compared to 1997-8 the number of children playing truant in 2004-5 in Hornsey & Wood Green had risen by 57% and had risen by 29% in Tottenham.

Peter Forrest explained:

“This shows that truancy is a growing problem in our schools. Despite promises of a Government crackdown on truancy and £1 billion of taxpayers’ money spent on ‘initiatives’ to tackle truancy and behaviour, too many children still miss school. Truancy not only damages the education of children, in many cases it is the start of a criminal lifestyle. It is vital that parents and the public at large are aware of this worrying trend.

I believe that some parents need to take greater responsibility for getting their children to school. Regular attendance at school should also be a key part of an enforceable home-school contract. Too many young people are turned off school and would benefit from being able to study more vocational subjects. Despite the hard work of our teachers and schools, we need more than just gimmicks and initiatives from the Government.”

ENDS.