YP Letters: Politicians play role in school holiday rip-off

ONCE again it is “rip off” time...the time when the holiday companies rip off those conscientious parents who take their children on holiday during the school holidays (GP Taylor, The Yorkshire Post, October 25).

This should never been a problem for parents, nor the schools, nor indeed the local authorities. It has always been the problem of the holiday companies and the government of the day.

I was for several years a governor at two primary schools and I tried to argue the point with fellow governors, who had a great deal of sympathy with my views. Little sympathy came from some of the schools’ teachers, whose attitude was “I have to take my holidays then, so why shouldn’t they?” When I wrote to the Department of Education, as it was then, their dismissive reply was “we cannot interfere with the workings of private companies”.

Of course, a child’s education suffers if they are taken out of school in the period leading up to any exams, be they Sats or GCSEs, but any responsible parent hopefully would not do that.

Perhaps one myth could be exploded. A child’s education does not suffer for life as a result of them taking a week out, otherwise the many thousands of children who take a week off due to illness would be similarly affected.