Act Party wants hard line against truants' parents

Act MP Donna Awatere Huata is calling for the Government to copy Britain and jail parents of repeat truants.

Her call followed the 60-day jailing of Patricia Amos for failing to ensure her children regularly attended their school in Oxfordshire.

The maximum penalty in New Zealand is $150.

"New Zealand must follow Britain and take a zero-tolerance approach to truancy," said Mrs Awatere Huata, who plans to draft a member's bill.

Crime and truancy were closely linked, and the number of offences committed by children had increased by more than 4000 in the past two years.

- NZPA