AFTER a father took his daughter on holiday during term-time he received a £120 fine. Now his case has ended up in Supreme court and parents all over are rooting for him.
Jon Platt, 45, won a milestone High Court ruling, last year, removing the fine he refused to pay. Two senior judges stated that he was acting legally as his daughter had a solid attendance record in the rest of the year.
Now the Isle of Wight Council has taken the case to Supreme Court after already 35 English schools have changed their policy when it comes to fines, according to a BBC investigation.
When taken to magistrates court the prosecutors refused to convict the father from Northern Ireland, and the High Court said the former was entitled to take into account the “wider picture”.
Mr. Platt’s initiative has earned interest from thousands of other parents who can relate to the case, with Karen Anderson, 46, from Manchester saying:
“I think it’s a really good thing that he’s standing up to a system that’s rather strict. If the pupils have got good attendance records they shouldn’t be fined for going on a holiday.”
A local primary school teacher, who wanted to remain anonymous, attributed Mr. Platt saying:
“Congratulations to him. The more resistance the tighter ship they will run. Benefits to parent’s schools but not holiday companies or government.
“The problem here is that the government won’t regulate dates to ensure uniform holiday dates as they get the funds from taxes holiday makers pay. Quite a lucrative arrangement currently for the government.”
David Burgess, 51, from Bury understands the problem that parents all over Britain are facing:
“I can see why some people want to go on holidays during term-time as trips in the summer are so expensive.
“Children shouldn’t be punished for having a break when they’re that young. A few days away won’t do any harm to their further education.”
We’ve gathered all the data on pupil absences and whipped up this beautiful graphic for you #termtimeholidays pic.twitter.com/BB49cMLh1J
— TES (@tes) October 30, 2016
The Department of Education, on the other hand maintain that missing a few days is detrimental to pupil’s education. The chances of scoring 5 GCSEs with grades A-C gets reduced for every day missing, according to research published by the department only last year.
During an ITV programme called The Truth About Term Time Holidays aired last October, the TV station revealed that all the fines handed out for term-time holidays in the last school year would add up to over £5 million.
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