Truancy levels in part of east London have been reduced after the local mosque was drafted in to use its influence with parents and children.

The scheme involves mosque officials working with families where children have poor attendance records.

The mosque's radio station not only calls the faithful to prayer but has also been calling the area's children to school.

Twelve primary schools in the Tower Hamlets area are involved and attendance has increased by between five and 10%.

Primary attendance

National average - 95% Tower Hamlets average - 92.2% Some Tower Hamlets schools - below 90%

The aim of the scheme - Improving School Attendance in Partnership (Isap) - is to tackle truancy levels in Tower Hamlets which are some of the worst in the UK.

Around 40% of the population of the borough of Tower Hamlets is Muslim and the East London Mosque is one of the biggest in the UK.

Junaid Ahmed, co-ordinator of the project, said parents had a moral responsibility to their children.

"With one child, for example, we have seen she had a very patchy attendance record before we intervened and since our intervention she has been attending almost every day."

Social problem

A representative from the Mosque visits families to explain not only the legal obligation but also the importance of attendance in moral and social terms.

It's a matter of trying to get parents to see that early years schooling is really important

Hania Franek, Tower Hamlets Council

Youngsters are given incentives to attend including certificates, pens and T-shirts.

Mosque officials say some Bengali families value education up to university level but do not always see the relevance of primary school.

Hania Franek, head of pupil and student services at Tower Hamlets, said: "It's actually parentally-condoned absence.

"It's a matter of trying to get parents to see that early years schooling is really important.

Secondary schools

"It's a time when children learn rapidly and missing out from school is missing out on important learning processes."

Tower Hamlets council says it is pleased with the initial success of the scheme but improved attendance rates need to be sustained.

It says different methods are needed to tackle truancy in secondary schools and in other communities.

But the government has made tackling truancy a priority and wants to reduce it by a third.