§ 3. Mr. Heddleasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he is taking to monitor truancy levels.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Science (Mr. Peter Brooke)Monitoring the incidence of absences from school is essentially a local responsibility. At national level there is evidence enough that truancy is a cause for concern; and we propose to issue a circular on the part that education welfare services can play in reducing it.
§ Mr. HeddleI welcome my hon. Friend's announcement. Does he agree that there is a direct relationship between hard-core truancy and teenage crime, especially in the inner cities, and that that is a serious matter? Will he engage in discussions with our right hon. and learned Friend the Home Secretary to ascertain what can be done to make parents stand by their obligations and duties to ensure that their children attend school?
§ Mr. BrookeI believe that there is a link between truancy and juvenile crime, but the connections are not firmly established. Whatever the interaction, both problems must be tackled vigorously. Parents have an important role to play. Where parents display an interest in their children's education and show that they regard it as important, truancy is less likely to occur. Unfortunately, not all parents regard their children's schooling as important. Some parents condone or even cause absence by keeping a child at home to look after a sick relative.
§ Mr. FatchettTo what extent is there a link between high levels of truancy and unemployment among young people? Is not the reality that many young people who attend school live in a no-prospect society led by a no-hope Government, and for them truancy is one alternative?
§ Mr. BrookeThere is a closer link between truancy and the curriculum. Teaching needs to be lively and absorbing, and the curriculum needs to be seen by pupils and parents as relevant to the demands of adult life.