§ 5. Mr. McCrindleasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what discussions have taken place with the local education authorities on truancy and related matters since June 1976.
§ Miss Margaret JacksonNo formal discussions have been held since the meeting in June with representatives of the local authority and teacher associations and other educational bodies concerned. The follow-up action has been planned and will be taken in association with local education authorities.
§ Mr. McCrindleAs truancy appears to be concentrated in the larger cities and in the age group between 15 and 16, has the hon. Lady any plans to reconsider her policy on the school leaving age? In particular, is she considering returning some discretion to the teacher on the question when a child is allowed to leave during the last year?
§ Miss JacksonThe school leaving age was raised some time ago, but it is a little soon to decide to make a change. Giving teachers discretion to say when a child should leave would require a change in legislation, and Opposition Members are always complaining about the pressures on our legislative time. In some areas the problem will be accentuated by the leaving age being raised to 16, but essentially it is much more a problem of individual cases, and these can be more easily dealt with by teachers and by individual authorities. There are not many recent figures, but figures from ILEA relating to surveys this year show a small but definite improvement in truancy rates. It is a welcome sign, and one for which we have been looking for a considerable time.
§ Mr. SkinnerDoes my hon. Friend agree that it ill becomes Members of Parliament to lecture parents and education authorities and others about truancy when hon. Members, day in and day out, play truant from this House? Does she 1181 not also agree that last night's vote was another vindication of this theory?
§ Miss JacksonMy hon. Friend's observations are interesting, but I do not think that I should comment on them.
§ Mr. MontgomeryWill the hon. Lady ask her Department to require local authorities to publish truancy figures? Is not there a link between truancy among 15- and 16-year-old children and the enormous increase in juvenile crime?
§ Miss JacksonGiven that we do not have adequate statistics in regard to absences from school, I believe that it would be dangerous to draw conclusions from statistics that do not exist in great numbers. Local authorities are already free to publish truancy data if they choose to do so. We as a Government have not decided to collect those figures and draw them together, because they are difficult to interpret and are not always collected on the same basis from one local authority to another. It is open to local authorities to publish their own figures, and of course it is equally open to hon. Members to press their local authorities to do so.
§ Dr. BoysonWe welcome the figures showing an ostensible decline in truancy rates in ILEA, but should we not be sure that the figures on the registers are correct? Was it not the case at one time for inspectors as well as chairmen of governors to check school registers? Now that inspectors are to visit schools in connection with curricula, why cannot they check the registers too—bearing in mind that publications such as Where?, which is by no means a Right-wing publication, have thrown doubt on the validity of many school registers?
§ Miss JacksonAlthough there are problems connected with truancy and ways in which teachers and local authorities can try to bring about a decline in the figures, at present there are many other matters to which our over-worked inspectorate could turn its mind. I am willing to inquire into this matter if the hon. Gentleman wishes me to do so, but he seems to be suggesting that because he does not accept the validity of such statistics, somebody else should produce some other results. A good deal of work would be involved in such an exercise 1182 and, as I have said, such efforts could perhaps be better directed.