PARIS, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- About 160 French families have lost welfare payments under a school truancy program that France's education minister said has succeeded in reducing truancy.
A controversial policy known as the Ciotti Law, enacted in January, stipulates if a child racks up four half-days of unexplained absences all welfare payments linked to that child will be cut off, France's The Local reported.
France's Education Minister Luc Chatel said the policy, though tough, has been a success at getting kids back in school.
"There were 32,000 families who were warned because their children were playing truant," The Local reported he said Thursday.
Those families were invited to meet with school officials and "half the cases were resolved after this first meeting," Chatel said.
The remaining families were invited to a second meeting, after which "only 160 resulted in the suspension of benefits," he said.
Chatel said the policy was on track for 99.5 percent of the families affected.
"This shows that the threat of stopping welfare payments, which was heavily criticized, works," Chatel said. "It makes the parents responsible and forces them to realize that they must get involved in the education of their child."
