Education secretary Estelle Morris has pledged a new crackdown on truancy and unruly behaviour in schools.

Following a bad behaviour "summit" involving parents, pupils and teachers' representatives, Morris announced a £66 million drive combat truancy, involving behaviour counselling, sweeps of truancy "hotspots" and new swipe-card registration systems for schools.

With estimates putting the number of pupils truanting from schools in England at over 50,000 each day, the education department said the new money to tackle the problem would be released from unspent reserves.

The new measures could see persistent offenders being sent on residential courses during school breaks which include compulsory anger management and social skills sessions.

There will also be a move to provide more places in learning support units and a guarantee of full-time education for excluded pupils.

Education welfare officers will conduct intensive truancy sweeps in 80 of the worst affected areas, while new electronic registration systems are to ensure truancy is picked up.

Morris said bad behaviour and truancy were two of the biggest challenges facing schools today.

"If children are not in school they can't learn and if some pupils behave badly they can harm education for other pupils as well," she said.

She warned that children guilty of skipping school could face a bleak future. "Research shows that these children are easily drawn into crime and anti-social behaviour and are more likely to be unemployed after leaving school."

And she said the government would tackle "the roots of the problem" by giving extra support to children who face being excluded.

"Let's be clear we will do what we can to support heads and teachers but without parents taking their responsibilities seriously we will not make the progress we want. Parents have a duty to make sure they are doing all that they can to instil discipline in their children.

"This package of measures will support local education authorities and schools who face the toughest challenges. In return for our investment we must ensure that bad behaviour is tackled head on."

The announcement was broadly welcomed by teaching unions.

Doug McAvoy of the National Union of Teachers welcomed the "joined up thinking" on truancy but added that more progress was needed.

"The government's recent actions to support teachers faced with unacceptable pupil behaviour are a positive start but progress can only be made if parents are involved. Unless parents value education, truancy sweeps will be a cosmetic exercise," he said.

Eamonn O'Kane, general secretary of the NASUWT union, said: "All in all, these measures will hopefully make a contribution towards combating this deep-seated problem which ultimately will only be solved if teachers are given the unstinting support of government, parents, pupils and society in general."