Nick Harvey notes:

According to the latest Government statistics truancy rates in secondary schools rose last year with millions of days lost to pupils skipping class every term.

Nationally around 43,000 pupils are thought to be missing classes every day, with the newly instituted academies having the worst truancy figures,

These dreadful figures show that the Government is missing its truancy targets in spite of pouring hundreds of millions of pounds into top-down initiatives.

These figures hide the reality of thousands of children who have fallen out of the education system and who are hanging around on our streets instead of developing vital life skills. I am pleased to add that North Devon’s schools in recent years tend to buck these depressing trends

The solution must lie in the schools themselves. We need not only tougher school discipline but a curriculum which is relevant for students of differing interests and abilities.
Additional Information
The Devon Youth Offending Service tackles issues including truancy and school exclusion - which can place young people at risk of becoming involved in crime.

Devon and Cornwall Constabulary Youth Interventions Officers work jointly with education welfare officers to prevent truancy. The force has 25 dedicated officers working directly with the 860 schools and colleges and 256,000 children and young people living in Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.