The Act Party wants parents to face tougher penalties if their children are skipping school.
Act Party leader David Seymour Photo: VNP / Daniela Maoate-Cox
Leader David Seymour said he wanted parents of persistently truant students to attend compulsory parenting classes.
He said he also wanted to increase fines for parents of truant students from $15 a day to $50 dollars a day, and increase the maximum fine from $150 to $500.
These fines would be collected by Inland Revenue, rather than the school, so they would be enforced.
Mr Seymour said if a persistently truant child's parents were receiving a benefit, Act would put those parents on income management, until the child maintained a clean attendance for two school terms.
Parents of children convicted of repeat criminal offences would be subject to similar sanctions under Act's plan.
