Parents of truants face action over unpaid fines

One hundred families which have repeatedly ignored truancy fines will be receiving a “letter of final notice” warning they will face legal action if they fail to pay up, The Sunday Times of Malta has learnt. Parents of truant children can be fined as much as €2.33 for each day their child misses school without a valid reason. Failing to pay up is considered a criminal offence under the Education Act. Despite this, many of the fines are habitually shrugged off by parents, as authorities tasked with taking legal steps against them often fail to do so. Eighty per cent of the citations dished out over the past 10 years have been ignored, with around €1 million still uncollected at the end of last year. Read more in The Sunday Times of Malta.