100,000 children miss school due to cheap flights

MORE than 100,000 children may be missing vital schooling every year because their parents want cheaper holidays during term time or do not think school is important, a major survey on school attendance reveals.

One-in-six parents questioned for the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB), which monitors and works to tackle absenteeism, admitted to taking their children on holiday during school term. Applied to the entire primary and second level population of around 780,000 children, the figure suggests up to 130,000 students could be affected.

The reason given by almost half the parents involved was that holidays and flights cost less during school terms. While almost one-in-five claimed that school was “not that important” or taking time off school does not affect their education.