Boris Johnson’s latest plan to stop parents from taking children out of school during term time is once again set to fail
The Government’s new rules to stop parents from taking their children out of school during term time are set to fail according to parents in Lincolnshire.
With the cost of living increasing and little support from the Government, Boris Johnson is set to hit parents once again in the pocket. The new plan will see parents fined if their children have five days of unauthorised absence or lateness within one term. Parents will also be issued with a fine if they take their children out of school to go on holiday.
The Government believes some councils are too soft with the way they treat unauthorised absences and want to introduce national deadlines at which the fixed penalty notice must be considered. The parents we have spoken to in Skegness, Lincoln, Scunthorpe, Boston, and Spalding, have said the Government and Boris Johnson do not live in the real world.
The fixed penalty notice parents will receive if they break the rules will be £120, but that would be reduced to £60 if they pay the fine within 21 days. However, according to some parents in Lincolnshire, with the rising cost of holidays, the fine would not put them off taking their children out of school.
Most of the parents we have spoken to in Lincolnshire have said the fixed penalty notice for taking children out of school would still be cheaper than paying for a family holiday during the school holidays. Holidays in the UK and abroad go up in price when the children are off school, which makes them unaffordable for millions of parents. The fine is a small price to pay to save money according to 90% of the parents we spoke to.
For two adults and two children, an all-inclusive holiday in Benidorm in March 2023 when children are in school is priced at just £1856. To go away in the Easter holidays, the same holiday would cost £3100. If a parent was fined for two children, then the fine would equal £240, but if they paid it within 21 days then the fine would reduce to £120. That means, after paying the fine, parents who take their children out of school during term time would save £1,124. That is why the new rules do not put off parents from taking their children out of school to go on holiday.
Susan Miles from Lincoln said: “This Government doesn’t know what it is like to live on a real wage. They don’t understand how people are struggling and how children are missing out on holidays. The fine does not put me off taking my child on holiday during term time.”
A teacher from Scunthorpe who did not wish to be named said that they did not agree with the fine system. They said they understood why parents take their children out of school during term time.
“A lot of teachers that I know and work with don’t agree with the fine system. Children need to go on holiday and relax. As long as they don’t go away on holiday during their final year of exams, then it should not be a problem.”
The teacher went on to say that the Government needs to understand the struggles that parents go through and should bring in a rule that children can go away on holiday during term time for a maximum of eight days a year.
A lot of parents that we spoke to wanted to know why teachers had their training days during term time which means parents had to find childcare. Many of those that we spoke to said the Government should look at issuing schools with fines who decide to close the school during term time for training days.
Tony Doyle from Lincoln said, “If the Government are so interested in keeping children in school then they should stop teacher training days during term time and stop school heads from sending children home when they don’t have the right uniform.”
A lot of parents felt the same way as Tony Doyle. They wanted to see schools stop sending children home when they don’t have the right hair style, shoes, or uniform.
It seems once again that Boris Johnson and the Government are not listening to those struggling daily.