Truants can’t just be taught a lesson

PUPILS who persistently play truant will be placed on an official naughty list, the Government announced this week. Proposals, set out in the Queen’s Speech, require schools to publish detailed attendance records on a national register, which local authorities can track in real-time to make sure no child is left behind.The new system will also help bring legal interventions against problem parents who face a £60 fine if attendance doesn’t improve, upped to £120 if it isn’t paid in 21 days.

While the threat of appearing on a “wanted” list is unlikely to deter persistent offenders already disillusioned with authority, the mass data harvest will reveal the extent of school absences – an issue that has significantly worsened after repeated lockdowns.

To blame the drop in school attendance merely on capriciousness or bad behaviour would be to neglect the immense complexity of the matter.

For the first time last year, more than one million children were referred to specialist mental health services for help with addiction, anxiety, depression and eating disorders among other conditions.

MEANWHILE, families up-and-down the country are struggling to put dinner on the table in the cost-of-living crisis. Food banks report increased demand for meals that do not require cooking because people are worried they won’t be able to afford the gas bill, and a study this week revealed some 2.6 million children are regularly going hungry.

This is the heart-breaking reality of 21st century Britain, and it is plain that repeated school absences, child mental health, food insecurity and energy poverty are inextricably linked issues which have a knock-on effect. It will take a joined-up strategy to sort out, and slapping a £60 fine on a cash-strapped parent who can’t afford the weekly shop will only exacerbate the situation.

Boris Johnson promised a brighter future in Tuesday’s Queen’s Speech, but the Bank of England has warned the economy is heading for recession, cases of anxiety and depression have doubled in the last two years, with money worries a key factor and with families stretched to breaking point, children will inevitably suffer and their education will take a hit. The Prime Minster is mistaken if he thinks he’s got time on his side.

●Virginia Blackburn is away

Picture: REUTERS POP artist Andy Warhol’s portrait of Marilyn Monroe has become the most expensive 20th-century piece of art after it was sold for £158million. US art dealer Larry Gagosian forked out the sum for the 1964 silk-screen print titled ‘Shot Sage Blue Marilyn’. No one tell him they are going for a tenner on eBay.