Today they launched their 2005-2007 Strategic Campaign and they are "keen to make everyone aware that every day counts in a child’s education". This is ridiculous.
CEO Eddie Ward said that the Board also wanted to confront was he called a “culture of casual non-attendance” including those days that parents sometimes think don’t count – the mid-season holidays, the days taken for Christmas shopping or looking for the confirmation clothes, the days off after the baby’s Christening, for example.Nobody is better place to make that judgment as to whether it "poses no problem" for a child or puts "undue pressure" on him or her than the parents. That's our call, nobody else's.
“A day missed is a day that has to be made up by a child at some stage,” he said. “For some children this might pose no problem. For some, however, it can put undue pressure on them to catch up. It is better that children miss days only if they are sick or if there is a serious family issue.”
My wife and I have often given our kids the green light to skip school for vacation or just because there are relatives over visiting. School may be important, but it's not really that important. {In fact I think it's way over-rated, but that's another argument.}
The point is, my wife and I are fully capable of making the determination as to whether our children can miss days or not. We don't need the state's involvement. In fact, the state should have no role whatsoever in this.
