A BOLTON scheme to bleep parents of persistent truants is set to go nationwide as part of an ambitious Government programme launched today.

Education secretary David Blunkett revealed this morning that the Government have been keeping a close eye on the trial at Smithill's School.

And he said the programme appeared to be so successful he was set to extend it elsewhere in the country as part of the drive to slash the number of truants by one third by the year 2002.

As reported in the BEN Smithills have issued the parents of persistent truants with pagers which are set off automatically if their child is marked absent on an electronic register.

Today David Blunkett singled out the scheme for praise in a series of media interviews to launch a range of proposals from the Government's Social Exclusion Unit aimed at preventing children skipping classes and becoming petty criminals. The Bolton scheme is voluntary but proposed new measures include court orders FORCING parents of persistent truants to carry pagers or accompany them to school.

Police will also get new powers to pick up truants off the streets and there will be a crackdown on heads expelling pupils with OFSTED inspectors being sent into schools where expulsion rates seem high.

Schools will be made to make alternative arrangements to keep expelled pupils in education and heads will be stopped from excluding pupils for reasons such as wearing jewellery.

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