ON TUESDAY, April 5 I flew from Bournemouth Airport to Tenerife and was amazed that around 15 children of school age were boarding the plane with their parents.

As most schools closed for the Easter holidays by March 23 at the latest, surely the pupils were due to return no later than April 11, so even those going on holiday for one week would not be back in time for the start date.

The resort was full of British families and even up to and including the day before my return flight on Tuesday, April 19, schoolchildren were on the beach and in the town as were some on the flight home.

If you multiply this all over the country, hundreds if not thousands of children must have missed school for another fortnight after their Easter break, which begs the question: do parents not care about the importance of their children’s education?

As a council taxpayer, a good percentage of it going towards education, I think it’s about time school inspectors were more diligent and affirmative when disciplining parents and children of school age about taking time out of their education to go on holiday in term time.

School holidays throughout the year are plentiful enough without adding to them.

Ian Caldwell

Vale Road, Bournemouth

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