Alarm bells ring as truancy rates continue to rise; Figures show worrying increase in pupil absences across South Wales.

INCREASING numbers of children are truanting from schools in three local authorities across South Wales.

Worrying new figures show secondary schools in Merthyr, Bridgend and the Vale of Glamorgan have all seen a rise in the number of unauthorised absences.

Meanwhile, despite a 0.4% fall in its year-on-year figures, Cardiff still has by far the highest truancy rate in South Wales, with 3.3% of all school sessions in maintained secondary and special schools missed due to unauthorised absences - nearly double the Welsh average.

Caerphilly and Rhondda Cynon Taf have both seen a 0.3% drop in their truancy figures, to 2.1% and 2.2% respectively.

Merthyr County Borough Council has seen the biggest rise in pupils playing truant.

In 2006-07, 1.5% of all secondary school sessions were missed through children playing truant, but in 2007-08 that figure had risen to 1.8%, according to the latest figures published by the Welsh Assembly Government.

Bridgend and the Vale of Glamorgan have also seen a rise in the number of truants.

Both have recorded a rise of 0.1%, with Bridgend up from 1.9% to 2%, and the Vale up from 1% and 1.1% year-on-year.

The average truancy rate in Wales has remained static at 1.8%.

No-one from Merthyr County Borough Council was available for comment last night.

A spokesman for Bridgend County Borough Council said: "The council acknowledges that there has been a very small increase of 0.1% in the unauthorised absence figure and the report suggests this is an ongoing challenge for LEAs right across Wales."

Bryan Jeffreys, director of learning and development at the Vale of Glamorgan, said: "Attendances at schools in the Vale continue to be among the highest in Wales.

"However, we are not complacent and will continue to work in conjunction with our schools to reduce unauthorised absences."

Cardiff's figures now place it 18th out of the 22 Welsh Authorities for overall attendance at secondary level, up from 21st place in 2006-07.

Coun Freda Salway, Cardiff's executive member for education and lifelong learning, said: "These improving new figures highlight the hard work that the schools and the council have been doing since the implementation of our attendance strategy, MEMO - Missing Education, Missing Out - in 2006."

The WAG figures also reveal that girls are more likely to truant than boys.

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GROWING PROBLEM: A policeman quizzes a girl about her absence from lessons