Teenagers in Kingston-upon-Thames in outer London who fail to turn up for school are being given the chance to study at home or in public libraries.

Education officials there say what they call "flexible learning" can be better than forcing disaffected pupils back to school.

But critics say the teenagers need the discipline of coming to school - and are unlikely to study at all at home.

Under the pilot scheme, 15 and 16 year olds can be nominated by schools, parents or themselves.

They can choose how and what they study and their parents have to sign an agreement promising they will make sure their children are following the programme properly.

Head teachers also have to sign up. They keep the child on the school roll, pay entrance fees for exams and allow teachers to provide support where needed.

The teenagers can have lessons at home or in libraries from tutors.

Disrupt

Ming Zhang, principal education welfare officer for Kingston said school was not necessarily good for all children.

"Very often you force a disaffected Year 10 or Year 11 pupil back to classroom, the only thing they do is to disrupt other pupils and deliberately get themselves suspended.

"No matter how many parents you take to court, you will always have a certain proportion of young people who are disaffected with schooling and opt out of it when they are 15, 16 year of age.

"Parental prosecution may force a few of them back to classroom, but the reality is most of their teenage children are still hanging around in our streets, doing nothing for their education."

If children fail to keep to the programme, the council will prosecute.

'Firm sanction'

The Campaign for Real Education says such disaffected children need the discipline of school and should not be allowed to opt out.

The group's chairman Nick Seaton said: "If their parents can't get them to go to school they won't be able to get them to study like this.

"What is needed is a firm sanction against truanting children and their parents."

The government has been trying to clamp down on truancy and some parents have been prosecuted for failing to make sure their children get to school.

The most recent figures published by the Department for Education showed no change in the rate of unauthorised absences at secondary school, although there was a 0.4 percentage point fall in authorised absences.