Ministers are pressing ahead with tough new measures to crack down on the parents of truants.

Education minister Stephen Twigg has launched a new fast-track prosecution process for mother and fathers responsible for persistent no-show pupils.

Forum Response: Association of Teachers and Lecturers

Gwen Evans, deputy general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers told ePolitix.com: "By all means make it almost certain that truants hanging around in shopping centres will be swept back into lessons. Fast tracking parents to court however, runs the real risk of just making life worse for parents who are already at risk of going under.

"Whatever happened to joined up thinking? What parents in difficulties need is access to a range of effective support services. Otherwise, there's a real risk that the cost of improving school attendance is breaking up struggling families. It cannot make sense to deal with the problem by creating another".

Forum Response: National Union of Teachers

Doug McAvoy, general secretary of the NUT, told ePolitix.com: "These truancy sweeps must apply equally to Harrods as well as to Woolworths. Any other approach would send a message that only pupils from certain areas are being targeted. No pupil should be truanting whether they attend independent schools or state schools.

"Every parent has a responsibility to ensure their child attends school daily. Wealthy parents are no more immune from this legal obligation than those who are less well off.

"Teachers will be under enormous pressure to deal with pupils who are returned reluctantly to school.

"Fast tracking of prosecutions against parents who do not ensure their children attend school may prove helpful but the pilots must be properly evaluated."

Forum Response: Professional Association of Teachers

Alison Johnston, senior professional officer of the PAT, told ePolitix.com: "These figures are alarming, although it is encouraging that the rate of truancy seems to be falling. We welcome the greater use of truancy 'sweeps' and the government's 'fast track' scheme."A great deal of teacher and support staff time is taken up with chasing up pupil absence, but truancy is not a problem that schools can tackle alone. Schools, parents and the wider community need to work in partnership to ensure that pupils attend school regularly.

"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.

"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, although imprisoning parents should be a last resort, as sending parents to prison has an adverse effect on family life. We support the use of a range of measures to tackle truancy and look forward to seeing the results of the government's pilot scheme."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."