SIR: Your headline 'Parents turn kids truant for cheap hols' (BEN June 25) suggests that parents are keeping their children away from school illegally. In fact, children may be absent from school for up to 10 days in each academic year for certain purposes; one of which is an annual family holiday, subject to permission from the school. If the education authority does not like this, perhaps it should try to persuade Mr Blunkett to change the law.

The inference in your article, that parents are willing to sacrifice the continuity of their children's education for the sake of saving money, is one I am sure would anger many parents.

As a parent governor, I too have been concerned about the level of such absences, but experience suggests the reasons are more complex than this.

Perhaps the education authority could consider conducting its own research if it is really serious about tackling the problem. Not long ago it came up with an innovative solution for children from other countries who take extended holidays during term-time - surely it can think of more imaginative ways of dealing with this issue than lecturing parents?

Patricia Cooper

Tempest Court, Lostock

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.