Should schools increase fines for absent pupils?

We ask people in Birmingham

Transcript

00:00I think that's not the right way to deal with it in my view, the way to deal with it is

00:06to talk through with parents and persuade them of the importance of their children not

00:10being taken out of school for such reasons. And where it does happen, my view is it's

00:17unfair because those who are relatively affluent, they're not going to be too fussed about a

00:22fine. Those who are taking those holidays because they're less costly than other times

00:27of the year, well it's a double whammy for them, isn't it? So it doesn't strike me as

00:32the right solution.

00:35I think it's a mixed bag because sometimes you hear about people who've been fined and

00:39the reasons are very valid that they've taken the child out of school.

00:44I don't have school aged children anymore. I'm not sure that fining parents is the answer

00:51to a school absence. I think it's more a question of educating parents as to how their children

00:56will be disadvantaged by not being in school.