Few parents of truants punished

TENS of thousands of Queensland kids are wagging school for more than a week at a time without a valid reason, but only a handful of parents are copping tough penalties.

New government data reveals 22,503 students were reported absent from school for five or more consecutive days last financial year for unexplained or invalid reasons, up from 21,745 the year before.

But police have confirmed only 16 parents across the state were charged with failing to enforce compulsory school attendance in 2017.

While Education Minister Grace Grace moved to remind parents they have a legal requirement to ensure their children are in class, she admitted the Education Department only turned parents over to police as a last resort.

“The department would only make a referral to QPS for prosecution after substantial effort has been made to engage with the parents,” she said.

But the state Opposition seized on the data to accuse the Government of failing kids.

“The Government has to enforce the law,” LNP education spokesman Jarrod Bleijie said.

“What we are seeing is a staggering amount of students not attending school.”

Queensland Teachers’ Union president Kevin Bates said the “big stick” approach of charging parents was not really working.

Mr Bates also said new reporting arrangements introduced in the aftermath of the Tiahleigh Palmer murder case meant school staff now had to chase up every absence.