Schools rule out more hols

Thousands of parents are taking ‘‘cheaper’’ holidays during the school term, and it doesn’t appear as though the Ministry of Education can do anything to stop them.

Ministry figures show that an estimated 23,000 school pupils in New Zealand go on holiday during each school term.

But although the Ministry of Education says it won’t fine parents for doing so, several parents have been prosecuted for ‘‘persistent truancy’’ after absences of longer than 20 consecutive days.

Last week in the UK, an English father lost a Supreme Court case fighting against authorities fining him for taking his daughter to Florida during term time.

Comparing the prices of flights during and after the school holidays have revealed that its much cheaper to take a holiday during the school term.

Airfare data from webjet.co.nz shows as much as a 71 per cent

Prosecution through the courts for chronic or long-term truancy is always a last resort. Katrina Casey

premium for a family of four flying in the second week of the winter holidays compared with the first week back in the third school term.

Direct flights connecting Auckland and Queenstown, Christchurch and the Gold Coast, Wellington and Sydney, Auckland and Nadi, and Auckland and London all showed increased demand had swollen prices by anywhere between 26.9 and 71.8 per cent.

For a family of four going to London it equates to $1926 – the equivalent of another adults return airfare.

A short direct hop between Wellington and Sydney saw a $1176 jump in prices by selecting flights within the school holidays.

The Ministry of Education has confirmed that they have never fined or prosecuted any parents for taking their children on holidays during the school term.

Ministry of Education spokeswoman Katrina Casey said taking students out of school during term-time for holidays ‘‘isn’t something we support, because it can affect how well they learn and progress’’.

‘‘Prosecution through the courts for chronic or long-term truancy is always a last resort.

‘‘It is more important to get a student back to school.’’

Hamilton mother-of-two Karina Green is nonetheless furious at the school her 9-year-old child attends after the principal informed her that her absence during the school term would be marked as ‘‘unjustified’’.

Green took advantage of the considerably cheaper airfares during the school term to take her family on a nine-day excursion to Hawaii at the end of last month.

‘‘I was suitably outraged because I’m a good parent, and to be able to take my children on a holiday like that is a privilege.’’

She said a one-off holiday, especially one with considerable educational content like their one, should not be discouraged.