I make no apologies for politicising what is in essence a political issue. The then Government Education Secretary Michael Gove amended the legislation in September 2013 which previously gave Heads discretionary powers to grant 10 days for family holidays in ‘special circumstances’. As Stunts points out, Gove removed the reference to the 10-day limit from the regulations which meant that Heads could only authorise absence in term time under ‘exceptional circumstances’ which didn’t include family holidays. LA's were duty bound to enforce the tightening of the legislation, although I think there has been a relaxation of enforcement in response to the 200,000 signature petition opposing the regulation.
Not only are private schools exempt from this legislation, but as their terms tend to be shorter than state school terms, it means that parents of privately educated children can often book cheaper holidays before state schools break up in peak holiday season. I wonder how many children of our parliamentarians attend private school and whether the percentage is representative of the country as a whole?
Like all sectors in our unregulated free market economy, holiday companies’ tariffs are priced at the maximum market forces will allow at any particular time of the season. We are all aware that demand is at its highest during the school summer break and that is when holidays are most expensive. Now you don’t need to be a socio political scholar to know which families will be hit the hardest by this ridiculous legislation.
What does a millionaire government minister know about the struggle facing a working family at the bottom of the income scale trying to budget every week, let alone afford a holiday? Heads should be given discretionary powers because they are best placed to make these decisions on an individual basis and based on a sound judgement. They know the pupil’s attendance record, level of application and family background. Of course the state has a duty to ensure that parents fulfil their obligation to send their offspring to school, but IMO this is way OTT.
