I SEE a woman has been jailed for knowingly letting her two daughters skip school.

It goes to show that parents can't turn a blind eye to their children's truancy without facing the consequences.

Oxfordshire's education authority say they tried everything to get the two Amos girls back into school, but only the shock tactic worked.

If that's what education chiefs have to resort to then surely something is wrong in today's society.

The girls say they were shocked into going back to school and said their mum shouldn't suffer for their misdemeanours.

But that is no excuse for the punishment.

Parents are responsible for their children during school hours as well as out of them.

Teachers assume responsibility in 'loco parentis' (in place of parents) while children are in their care.

But if they are not in school then it still falls on the parents or guardians to take responsibility.

Precedent

I could understand the furore if the mother had not known her kids were bunking off, but in this case she did.

How many of the truanting kids in Worcester are in a similar situation?

This case sets a precedent, and I'm sure Worcestershire's Education Directorate would have no qualms in taking the same steps for persistent truants.

So the two girls are back in school now, but for how long?

Is this the shock that they needed to realise they need to be in school learning?

Whatever their future it will be a difficult month.

They may be back in school now but they have missed so much of their schooling that they are bound to feel isolated.

With the media attention, disrupted family life and lack of understanding in school things are going to be hard for the Amos girls.

But they only have themselves to blame.

Truancy is a major problem across the UK, with an estimated five million school days lost each year to truancy and absences.

By enforcing the Criminal and Court Services Act and sending Patricia Amos to jail, education chiefs are showing no mercy.

The act raised the penalty for failing to send a child to school from a £1,000 fine to a maximum £2,500 fine and/or three months in jail.

And education secretary Estelle Morris said she is extending the use of parenting orders, which sends parents to discipline classes.

All this to make sure our children are educated and ready to face the world.

If truancy continues, then we will be home to thousands of disaffected youngsters, young families living on benefits and those surviving on a life of crime.

Worcester children, and parents, beware - this could be you.

The courts have the power to send parents to jail and they've shown they're not afraid to use it.

Patricia Amos isn't the first mum to be fully aware of her kids truancy and she won't be the last.

Next Tuesday: Education Focus gets ready to say goodbye to one of the city's most prominent headteachers.