Truant's mum says ministry action 'sucks'

Rita McClutchie. Photo / Doug Sherring

A mother of six children has criticised the education system after she was taken to court because her teenage son skipped school.

Rita McClutchie, 44, was convicted and fined $150 this week for failing to ensure her son attended school.

Her conviction is part of a Ministry of Education crackdown on truancy: it is taking the unusual step of prosecuting a Hamilton woman for failing to enrol her children in school and in Porirua, a 72-year-old great-grand-mother also faces charges because a 12-year-old girl in her care has not been attending school.

Figures from the last Ministry of Education truancy survey, conducted in 2009, showed more than 30,000 students were truant from state and integrated schools each day.

Education Minister Anne Tolley took a tough stance on truancy last year, injecting an extra $4 million a year to help schools tackle high rates of absence.

But in Auckland, McClutchie has hit back, saying she should not be taken to court for her son's actions.

She said 14-year-old Jarcy Williams refused to go to Henderson High School after he was told off for having long, dyed hair.

"They wanted him to cut his hair and dye his hair so he stopped going. He wasn't going to cut his hair," McClutchie said. "He said it's boring there."

She said Williams skipped school almost every day last year but his attendance rate had picked up after meeting with the principal in November last year. However, she was charged for his absence between February and May this year.

"That's when he was probably at school the most," McClutchie said. "I feel the system sucks ... why am I going to court for my child, I know I'm responsible for him but ... I feel it was a waste of time being there and I feel guilty like a criminal."

Henderson High School principal Mike Purcell said Jarcy's hair was not related to his truanting.