Dutch cities team up to fight truancy

The four large Dutch cities Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and The Hague teamed up with eight collaboration groups and are making concrete plans to decrease the truancy rate, the Ministry of Education announced on Sunday, according to ANP.

Last year 4,200 kids in the Netherlands were considered truants - they were at home for more than three months rather than at school. A significant percentage of these kids come from one of the four big cities.

The parties involved plan to reduce the number of truants by at least 25 percent per year. The number of kids at home because of mental or physical problems should decrease by at least 10 percent per year. By 2020 no child should be at home for more than three months without suitable education being offered.

The plans include arranging faster assistance from aid organizations for kids sitting at home, making sure that school transport is not a problem and giving prevention more attention, among other things.