THERE'S a lot more work to be done on the city's truancy troubles and the Tamworth crime prevention group is calling for a team effort in the war on wagging.
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It has been top of the agenda of the Tamworth Regional Council crime prevention working group for more than a year and while it claims some headway has been made, it's still looking for solutions.
Committee chairman and councillor Russell Webb sees teaming-up as the way to go.
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"The youth of today are the future for tomorrow, so it's important we get this right, I think a lot of older people forget about that," Cr Webb said.
He said there was a number of kids falling through the cracks after moving to Tamworth.
Cr Webb said the group had helped link the department of education and Centrelink to help ensure kids were getting enrolled in local schools once they moved to Tamworth.
"In some cases, families that are on Centrelink payments are moving to Tamworth are not being picked up by the education department and those kids, in some of those cases they're not being registered, and drop off altogether," he said.
If a student's attendance at school is deemed unsatisfactory by the department of education, parents and guardians could face prosecution in the local court, or the department could apply to the children's court for a compulsory schooling order.
He also said the group would investigate whether there would a way to get more kids involved in local sports with fees proving prohibitive for some in the community.
"There's the health benefits, but there's a chance to build a circle of friends and quite often it is character-building," he said.
"It gets kids out there getting active and learning to be team members in the community."
He pointed to the success of the Clontarf program which helps build life-skills and employment opportunities through sport and education.
The crime prevention group will meet again this Friday.