THEY should be learning in class, but instead they shop, meet friends or watch television at home.

Often youngsters skipping school are with their parents.

The shocking extent of truancy in Southampton can be revealed today by the Daily Echo.

One in five school pupils skipped lessons last year, with new government figures revealing those west of the River Itchen twice as likely to play truant as those on the east.

Across Hampshire, one in six pupils were found to have missed lessons without reasonable excuse.

Statistics reveal 1,939 of Southampton's 10,610 secondary pupils played hooky at least once in the school year to July, roughly 20 per cent.

A total of 3,046 out of 14,170 primary pupils missed school without permission for at least half a day - 21.5 per cent.

However, secondary schools in the Southampton Test constituency recorded an alarming 7.7 per cent rise in the number of children playing truant - from 19 per cent in 2002-03 to 26.7 per cent in 2003-04, to top the county's league of shame.

Southampton Test MP Alan Whitehead said it would be "meaningless" to draw any conclusions from the figures.

"Some youngsters from my constituency go to school outside the city and others come to schools here from outside.

"However there certainly is an issue of truancy in the city."

Now he is calling for a truancy management scheme throughout the city led by Southampton Local education Authority.

Government inspectors identified unsatisfactory attendance at Bellemoor School in Shirley and Cantell School in Bassett, which have both been placed in Ofsted's worst category of special measures - both in Mr Whitehead's constituency.

Now an electronic registration system has been introduced at Bellemoor and administrative staff phone parents of pupils who fail to turn up without an explanation.

Similarly at Cantell, head teacher Ruth Johnson has introduced a new policy of telephoning the parents of absent pupils and an attendance officer is being recruited to cut down on truancy.

Mrs Johnson is already seeing impressive results.

"We have seen more children with 100 per cent attendance this half-term than last half-term."

Pupils who turn up to every lesson also have a chance to enter a weekly draw with chocolates and high street tokens to be won.

In Southampton Itchen, the rate of truancy increased from 11 per cent to 13.1 per cent. Truancy rates for primaries were broadly stable.

A City Council spokesman admitted there was an urgent need to tackle the problem but said there was already measures in place to deal with the problem.

"Southampton City Council is working hard to ensure that everyone involved in a child's education including teachers, parents, school inspectors, education welfare officers and all support staff are working together in a joined-up way to engage children in learning and promote their good attendance."

Education bosses are planning more truancy sweeps to catch children skipping school and send them back to lessons.

Throughout last year police officers and education welfare officers working in pairs stopped 240 children during 11 truancy sweeps carried out in popular Southampton haunts for bunking off such as WestQuay, Shirley High Street and the Lordshill District Centre.

When youngsters are stopped they are asked why they are not in school and in most cases escorted back to the classroom.

Education officers will also cold call parents of persistent offenders to find out where their children are.

Parents can also be fined, prosecuted and sent to prison for failing to make sure their child turns up to school and the city council currently has a number of prosecutions pending against parents.

The Department for Education and Skills figures were published as schools chiefs across Hampshire were told to get tough to crack down on truancy.

They were compiled for individual constituency areas and show that Gosport and New Forest West were the most successful in tackling truancy across Hampshire.

Prosperous New Forest West was also successful at tackling truancy, with only 5.5 per cent of comprehensive pupils missing a half-day without permission - the sixth best in England.

Chris Willsher, head teacher at the 1,159-pupil Priestlands School in Pennington, said attendance had gone up thanks to the close involvement of two education welfare officer.

"It's crucial we break the truancy habit before it becomes a habit. Everyone then wins; it's good for the school, for the children and the general community." But truancy among the constituency's primary pupils was 10.9 per cent.

Hampshire County Council's deputy principal education welfare officer Jim McGilvery said that during the last academic year 220 parents were prosecuted across the county for failing to make sure their children attended school and were fined up to £2,500.

"For a number of years Hampshire County Council has supported schools in rigorously challenging parents about pupils' absence from school in order to help improve the levels of attendance in both primary and secondary schools."

The government has introduced a new get-tough approach for parents who fail to get their children to school.

Head teachers are allowed to impose £50 penalty fines - similar to those to be handed out by the police for drunkenness - to the worst offenders. And councils have been told to inform the parents of persistent truants that they face jail.

Education chiefs are concerned because children who miss school are more likely to fall into the poverty trap of crime, drugs and unemployment.

Fareham MP Mark Hoban said: "The figures will come as a shock to many people who will not have realised how many children have missed at least one session of school.

"The government has tried and failed to reduce truancy.''

He added that vocational courses could help encourage secondary pupils to attend school.

"I know that many young people in Fareham have these opportunities and the feedback I get back is that it improves their attendance."