RESPONDING to the publication today of the Assembly Government's Behaving and Attending report, Shadow Education Minister Paul Davies said:

"We welcome this announcement by the Assembly Government but it is very disappointing that they have not been able to produce the report sooner.

"The amount of school being missed by pupils playing truant in Wales is at an eleven year high.

"Unauthorised absences from school are clearly a significant problem that Labour and Plaid should have set about fixing sooner rather than later.

"While children are not in school they're not learning and more likely than not, they're not being supervised.

"In some cases there could be a genuine reason behind the child's absence, like a special educational need that hasn't been identified, which has switched that pupil off its education.

"We know that persistent absenteeism and truancy is linked to low levels of literacy for example.

"The joined up approach that the report encourages between schools and agencies and families is very positive.

"Every child will miss school for individual reasons and there cannot be a 'one size fits all' approach to tackling the issue.

"The Assembly Government needs to ensure it gives teachers the training and support they need for tackling behavioural issues.

"I hope the Labour‐Plaid government will set about implementing the recommendations of this report as soon as possible."