Upholding a £120 fine levied against a parent who took their child on vacation mid-semester, England’s Supreme Court—backed by the Prime Minister—ruled that parents should not be allowed to remove children from school without “authorization.”
In her judgement, Lady Hale said it would cause unacceptable disruption if parents were able to withdraw children whenever they wanted.
“Unauthorised absences have a disruptive effect, not only on the education of the individual child, but also on the work of other pupils, and of their teachers,” she said.
Allowing parents to decide when they took their children away would be a “slap in the face” to parents who kept the rules, said Lady Hale.
Punishment for disobedience justified by the presumed insult to the obedient. So very English!
A Department for Education spokeswoman said: “We are pleased the Supreme Court unanimously agreed with our position – that no child should be taken out of school without good reason.
(You can home-school kids in the UK, but the authorities can serve mandatory school attendance orders if they don’t like the look of your curriculum)