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Parents
Of Children Who Are Absent From Scottish Schools May Soon Be Alerted
By Text Messages To Their Mobile Phones.
The Scottish Executive is expected to announce that it is piloting
a new way of tackling truancy. About 5,000 children truant on any
given day and schools are to respond by trialling a new computer system.
It will send texts to mobiles or voice messages to ordinary phones
and one parent said the system was proving popular. Messages will
be sent to the phones of parents whose children have not turned up
to class by morning registration. The system, which will be similar
to systems in place in other parts of the UK, will cost each school
£1,000 a year to run and the executive will meet the £6,000
installation cost.
Education Minister Peter Peacock is expected to announce that the
executive is funding trials in half of Scotland's schools. Mr Peacock
said: "Too many pupils are trying truancy. Pupils who miss school
pay a high price - damaging their school results, career prospects
and life chances - and that's why we are determined to improve attendance
in our schools.
'Tracking
truants'
"Calls and text messages are just one way we are tracking truants,
working with parents to ensure that they know where their children
are." Headteacher Muriel Buchanan, from Drummond School in Edinburgh,
said the system had proved a success. Speaking on BBC Radio's Good
Morning Scotland programme, she said it was improving communication
between parents and the school over pupil absenteeism. "It's
having an impact because it's catching people quickly," she said.
"All absences are keyed in the morning and the system phones
home on a repeated basis until the parent responds and then the system
switches off. "If a child is not in school then you can't educate
them, it affects attainment targets and that child's attainment. It's
essential we get children into school."
Anna Moran, whose daughter is a pupil at Drummond School, said the
system had proved popular among parents. She said: "Initially
we had our teething problems with it, but once you get used to it,
and providing people listen to the message right to the end and respond
appropriately, it works really well. "It doesn't take a lot of
time or effort from parents once they've been notified." Staff
at Stonelaw High School in Rutherglen, near Glasgow, said it saved
them making up to 50 calls a day to parents. The scheme was welcomed
by teachers' union, the Educational Institute of Scotland. General
Secretary Ronnie Smith said: "It goes without saying that anything
which could tackle absence from school and save teachers' valuable
time is a good thing."
The Scottish School Board Association said it was confident the scheme
would prove successful. SSBA president Caroline Vass said: "If
parents are given immediate notification of truancy, hopefully by
working in partnership with schools and the young people concerned,
we can achieve the desired results of nipping this type of absence
in the bud and improving the future prospects of would-be truants."
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