More than 12,000 children were caught truanting during a crackdown last month, the government revealed yesterday.

Nearly half of the children were with a parent or other adult at the time, and only half of these had a reasonable excuse to not be in school.

Forum Response: Association of Teachers and Lecturers

Gwen Evans, deputy general secretary of the ATL, told ePolitix.com: "Can we call on Estelle Morris to continue to make parents aware that they are disadvantaging their children by allowing them to play truant.

"It is the job of the government to push continuity and the importance of staying in school".

Forum Response: National Union of Teachers

Doug McAvoy, general secretary of the NUT, told ePolitix.com: "The police sweeps can only be valuable if they are part of a long term strategy.

"Although they are headline grabbing, they are an instant response and do not deal with the long term problem.

"However, the fact that half of the children caught playing truant were with their parents, shows that there is clearly a job to be done in educating parents about their responsibilities in ensuring that their children attend school."

Forum Response: Professional Association of Teachers

Jean Gemmell, general secretary of the PAT, told ePolitix.com: "These figures are alarming - especially the number of parents who are condoning their children's truancy.

"The Patricia Amos case should be a warning that parents can be held responsible for their children's failure to attend school and taken to court."Teachers need the support of parents to help to resolve this problem. We need to encourage parents to foster in their children a greater respect for schools and a belief in the importance of education.

"Playing truant or indulging in disruptive behaviour must not be seen as 'cool', but as blighting youngsters' future success in life.

"Young people who truant need to be clear that parents, the police and teachers are working together in children's best interests to make sure their time is spent appropriately in school."Members of the public should be encouraged to play their part too, by informing schools and the police of young people they suspect are truanting. Public workers, bus drivers, shop keepers and so forth could question youngsters using their services in school hours."