Increased fines for parents who let their children stay home from school to go on long trips

Parents in the UK who take their children on long trips during school days will be fined. The law was introduced by the authorities to improve discipline in schools.

Previously, parents in the UK were fined £60 for each unexcused day of absence if the school discovered their child had missed school to go on a family trip. From August 19, this figure will increase to £80 for each unexcused day of absence. The maximum total fine for each violation is £2,500.

British authorities have increased fines for parents who let their children take time off from school without permission to go on vacation (Illustration: iStock).

The regulation to fine parents for taking their children out on school days has been introduced by British authorities since 2013. This is the first time British authorities have increased the fine.

A valid reason for children in the UK to be absent from school is when they have health problems or the family has a legitimate reason and receives consent from the school.

If parents want to let their children take time off from school to go on a trip, they need to have truly special circumstances, have a written request and have received consent from the school.

With this increase in fines, British authorities also recommend that school boards should only consider fining parents when a student is absent without permission for five consecutive school days.

When parents violate, the decision to impose a fine will be made by the local authorities. If the parents do not pay the fine within 21 days, the fine will automatically double.

For the same child, if a parent commits two consecutive offences within three years, the fine for the second offence will start at £160 per day of offence.

If a parent has more than two violations within three years, they may be taken to court or placed on parenting supervision.

If parents let several children take an unexcused leave of absence to go on a trip, they will receive a number of disciplinary decisions corresponding to the number of children.

However, some British parents say they are willing to accept fines for taking their children on holiday during the school year, as they want to avoid peak tourist seasons, when travel costs become much more expensive.

During the 2022-2023 school year, British authorities issued nearly 400,000 fines to parents who let their children take unauthorised leave from school to go on holiday.

Many families want to avoid peak tourist seasons, but this affects their children's education (Illustration: iStock).

Mr. Geoff Barton - General Secretary of the Association of Head Teachers of Schools in the UK - said: "For students, the most ideal place for them during the school year is school. At school, they have teachers and friends, they can study, practice and develop comprehensively. That is good for both their physical and mental health.

Parents who arbitrarily let their children stay home from school without permission for unreasonable reasons will affect the children's learning and make it difficult for teachers. Teachers will have to help fill in the gaps in their children's knowledge after they return to class. If every parent in a class behaves in such an undisciplined manner, the class will be very chaotic."

In other European countries, regulations on penalties for parents who let their children stay home from school without permission for an unjustified reason are also very clearly defined.

In Austria , if a student is absent without permission for three or more consecutive days, the school will consider reporting the matter to the authorities, and parents can be fined between 110 and 400 euros. In serious cases, parents can face two weeks in prison.

In some cases, the Ministry of Education will ask the parents to come to work. If the parents do not appear at the scheduled time, the student may be suspended from school, based on the actual situation of the student's academic performance and disciplinary awareness.

In this case, Youth Welfare Services staff will visit the parents every two weeks to advise and monitor parenting.

In many European countries, penalties for parents who let their children stay home from school without permission are clearly defined (Illustration: iStock).

In France , parents or guardians are responsible for truthfully explaining the reason for their child's absence from school. Trips that are legitimate will be approved by the school. If parents lie and are caught, they can be fined 135 euros.

If the unauthorised absence seriously affects the child's education, the matter will be brought to court by the authorities, at which point the parent could face up to two years in prison and a fine of up to 30,000 euros.

In Germany , parents can be fined for allowing their children to miss school without permission. The fines vary from place to place. Bremen city authorities fine parents 35 euros for each day their child is absent without permission. The maximum fine for parents in Berlin is 2,500 euros. If parents repeatedly violate the rules, they can be prosecuted.

German police also apply professional measures at German airports to collect suspicious information about families taking children on long trips during the school year. The information will then be sent to schools to coordinate the accurate handling of each case.

In the Netherlands , parents who allow their children to be absent from school without permission can be fined 100 euros per day. The maximum fine for a parent is 600 euros for one week of unexcused absence or 900 euros for two weeks of unexcused absence.

In Spain , fines vary from region to region. Generally, cases are brought to court when a child is absent from school without permission for more than 20% of the total number of school days in a month. In this case, parents can be subject to administrative sanctions and fines of up to 1,500 euros. In Madrid, fines are much higher and can reach a maximum of 30,000 euros.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/tang-tien-phat-doi-voi-phu-huynh-cho-con-nghi-hoc-de-di-choi-xa-20240816100258983.htm