Tough love - Holidays in the school year

THE ruling by Britain’s supreme court yesterday that a man was wrong to take his daughter out of school to take her to visit Disney World will have those in the travel industry who increase prices for school holiday time periods popping the champagne corks. 

Their gouging of people with children, those who can only travel during school holidays, has been endorsed by the courts.

However, far more serious issues are in play. An education is a great privilege and it should not be undermined by behaviour that suggests it is a secondary adventure. Holidays during the school term fall into that category. Truancy to facilitate a cheap holiday hardly encourages an understanding of how important it is to make maximum use of an educational opportunity. Suggesting that holidays are only for holiday time will undoubtedly draw killjoy dismissals but the rigours of today’s working environment, not to mention how competitive it has become, suggest it is never too early to encourage a realistic understanding of our world.

In this instance a little tough love seems appropriate.