KEY POINTS:
A mother whose son has missed nearly half the school year is to be prosecuted in a last ditch attempt to get her son an education.
In one of the worst truancy cases on record, the year nine pupil, now aged 14 and enrolled at Kapiti College, had missed 143 half days out of a possible 336 in the school year.
His mother provided explanations for his absences on only five occasions, principal Tony Kane said.
The woman is understood to have told officials that her son could not attend school because he had no shoes or text books.
Problems continued even after Education Ministry officials arranged to have boarding fees covered by a scholarship.
The boy was flown to Gisborne for an interview at Gisborne Boys' High School after a scholarship was arranged for him but he never showed up for the new term.
Mr Kane told The Dominion Post the school had gone to great lengths to work with the family, including involving police and Child, Youth and Family.
The decision to prosecute was a last resort.
"We're just not getting sufficient cooperation," Mr Kane said.
"Ultimately it's the parent's responsibility to ensure that their child's going to school and she's failing to do that."
Up to 30,000 children are estimated to be truant from schools on any given week.
Under the Education Act, parents must ensure children aged under 16 attend class. But the maximum fine is just $150 and truancy prosecutions are unusual, with only 30 since 2006.
- NZPA
