Yorkshire's truancy shame revealed

YORKSHIRE schools have made no progress tackling truancy and remain the worst in the country, according to new figures which show more than a million half-days were skipped by pupils in less than a year.


The number of secondary school lessons being missed by truants is higher in Yorkshire than anywhere else in the country. The region also has the worst rate of persistent absentees, not in school for at least one day a week.

The figures for the autumn term of 2006 and spring term this year shows that despite millions being spent on tackling truancy the problem is on the increase in England and remains at the same level in Yorkshire.

Hull has the second worst rate of persistent absentees in the country, behind only Manchester, with one in eight of the city's secondary school pupils missing at least a fifth of their education.