Anne Tolley

Wellington, March 2 NZPA - More than 30,000 children a day are cutting classes, a new report on truancy says. and Education Minister Anne Tolley is promising to tackle the problem.

The survey, expected to be released today, also reveals a "lost tribe" of about 2500 long-term truants who are not enrolled in schools, The Dominion Post reported.

Mrs Tolley said the figures were "absolutely outrageous" and the Government was going to offer financial help to schools wanting to prosecute parents who failed to enrol their children in primary and secondary schools.

Prosecution guidelines would be published this year outlining how schools could apply for funding to help them prosecute parents.

"We cannot sit back and do nothing. These figures are really shocking and we need to get serious about tackling this problem," Mrs Tolley said.

"Now we know what sort of numbers we are dealing with I expect the number of truant children to start decreasing as we roll out initiatives."