The practice of taking youngsters out of school during term time for extended holidays abroad, usually to their family's country of origin, is damaging for two main reasons.

First and foremost, it is harmful to their education. Although it might well broaden their horizons by showing them how life is lived elsewhere, that advantage is likely to be more than outweighed by the harm caused to their ultimate educational attainment at home.

Bradford needs to improve the education of its youngsters, particularly those from some sections of the Asian community. Extended holidays are by no means the sole reason for disappointing levels of attainment, but they are a contributory factor.

The practice also reinforces segregation in the community as a whole because it marks the children out as different to their peers, who don't get six weeks holiday when everyone else is at school.

The families of these children must be encouraged to realise that if we are to create a level playing field for all Bradford's school pupils, to give them an equal opportunity to fulfil their potential in life, then all ethnic groups must accept some responsibility for bringing that about.

Bradford Council's initiative to get this message across by warning that children could be kicked out of school if their leave is extended for too long is a step in the right direction. It is encouraging that some parents have already welcomed it as an overdue measure to raise the community's levels of attainment.

They clearly appreciate the wisdom spoken by one head teacher whose school is already operating the new policy, that "you don't get results if the children are not here".