MEASURES are to be taken to cut truancy at Darlington schools after it was revealed many parents are allowing their children to skip lessons.

A Review Group was set up by Darlington Borough Council to investigate ways to improve attendance in the borough's school.

The group's report will be considered by the council next week and will reveal the extent of the problem of truancy in the area.

It shows that non-attendance at primary schools in the town is almost seven per cent, and at secondary is ten per cent. The aim is to reduce this to five per cent for primary schools and seven per cent for secondary schools.

One of the main problems identified by the group was the number of children not at school because their parents wanted to take them on holiday during term time.

There was also concern about children off school with long-term illnesses, although the school is never shown any medical evidence of ill health.

In a report to the council, after a visit to McMullen House in Darlington, which provides education for children permanently excluded from mainstream schools, the review group questioned parents' commitment to education.

The report said: "We were surprised that the causes and effects of truancy were principally due to the apathy of parents, who simply do not insist that their children go to school and often collude in their authorised absences,

"Naturally, some children deceive their parents into thinking that they are going to school, but many more are allowed to stay away because their parents do not insist that they attend and cannot see the long-term consequences of truancy."

The group has called for truancy to be treated much more seriously and has suggested a borough-wide publicity campaign to try to combat the problem.

There have also been calls for more support for families with problem children and more high-profile prosecutions of parents who fail to send their children to school.

In its report, the group said: "The local education authority is continuing to take parents to court when the issues becomes severe, and this will develop further.

"There is a need for parents to work in partnership with school, the LEA (local education authority) and other agencies, to ensure that they sent their children to school."