MORE than 300 children in Bradford spend their days at home while missing out on their schooling, latest figures reveal.

Bradford Council has 156 primary school age children and 169 secondary school age youngsters on its Children Missing Education register - a total of 325.

The authority, which is battling to drive up academic standards, said it is working hard to drive the number down, but one MP described it as "unacceptably high" while another said there was a "big problem" with education in Bradford.

Councillor Ralph Berry, the Council's executive member for children services, described the situation as "complicated".

Bradford West MP George Galloway said: "It sounds like a high number. And the rest are in schools that are at the bottom of the league. There is one big problem with schooling in Bradford."

David Ward, Liberal Democrat MP for Bradford East, said: "It is an unacceptably high number. Every single day a child is not in school is a wasted day."

He said rectifying the problem would be difficult, adding: "What adds to the problem is those children coming in during the year, which is very difficult to plan for.

"There is not the flex in the system or the capacity in the system. Many schools are at the limit, which reduces their ability to deal with new arrivals.

"Funding is important. I will be raising the issue of funding for Bradford schools next week. A large amount of money has come into Bradford for school places, but there is clearly a need for more. Schools are under pressure."

Councillor Debbie Davies, Bradford Conservatives' children's services spokesman, said all parents must ensure their children receive schooling.

She said: "The bare figures sound pretty horrific - all children should be in school or home education.

"I hope all efforts are being made to sort this out. The most important thing is future planning and looking at things like where we have new housing estates and where we are going to need stuff in the future."

She added: "I think there's a bit of parental responsibility as well. There could be parents rejecting places at certain schools.

"But you cannot always get your choices and they should be in school."

Michael Jameson, the Council's strategic director of children’s services, said: "There are 156 children of primary school age and 169 children of secondary school age on the 'Children Missing Education - Out of School Register' for our district.

"The Council's education social work service actively works with the children on this register in doing all it can to arrange a suitable education for them and to ensure their well-being.

"In addition, there is also a fluctuating number of children temporarily without a school place at any one time, for example those who have moved house and have applied for a new school or those who are appealing for their preferred school and have chosen not to take up the offer of a school with places.

"Again, the Council's admissions team and education social workers actively work with parents of these children to ensure they are always offered a school place."

Cllr Berry said: "We are working at getting all these young people's needs assessed and getting them placed.

"There are always situations in families, such as people moving. You cannot place some of these young people until we have an understanding of their needs."

He continued: "We have got to work hard to reduce that number, but it is complicated."

"We are tracking things, making sure that people are not getting below the radar."

Mr Galloway (Respect) is holding a public meeting on January 30 to start a campaign called The Bradford Challenge: Make Our Schools Better.

"We are trying to popularise the methods which have worked in London," he said.

"We are bringing up the Tower Hamlets Council chiefs who have transformed education in the borough, with almost the same demography as Bradford. We are bringing experts that have done it."

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