With debate continuing to rage regarding term-time holidays, Welsh Education Minister, Huw Lewis, weighed in on the issue and asserted that the implementation of blanket bans on term-time holidays were, under law, considered contrary to Welsh education regulations.
Outlining the issue with the Directors of Education and the Managing Directors of Regional Educational Consortia, Mr. Lewis explained that it was necessary for all Local Education Authorities to comply with the current law which allows headteachers to authorise term-time family holidays.
Following on from a Petitions Committee meeting which discussed the issue of term-term leave, Mr. Lewis advised: "The Regulations in Wales provide for head teachers to exercise their discretion in relation to authorising absence for up to 10 days per year."
Speaking to the Huffington Post, chairman of Parents Want a Say, Craig Langman, insists the fact that local authorities have fined parents for allowing their children term-time holidays is unjust in the extreme as they did not have the legal grounding to do so.
"Local authorities have been fining parents for taking kids on holiday without the law changing so we said, at the end of the day, parents can't be fined for doing this," he explained.
Commenting on Minister Lewis' statement, Mr. Langman welcomed the input, saying: "This is a victory for parents who believe they should have the right to enjoy quality family time with their children on an affordable annual family holiday or be able to take their children out of school for important events such as weddings, funerals."
Echoing Mr. Langman's sentiments, Jane Douglas of the Pembrokeshire branch of Parents Want a Say, said: "We are very pleased that the minister has responded to our petition and is taking action to rein in the local authorities that have been trying to restrict the powers of head teachers to authorise absences for family holiday."
However, not everyone welcomes Minister Lewis' contribution, with Siobhan Freegard of Channel Mum asserting: "Effectively parents can now remove children for two weeks each year and even longer if the head teacher approves. Added up over a child’s school life, it means kids could potentially miss 24 weeks schooling - equivalent to over half a year's education."
Hoping to use Wales' position on the matter to address the issue of fines in England and Scotland, Parents Want a Say intend to approach Westminister and discuss the topic in the near future.
