Half of all Scots pupils going AWOL from schools through truancy or unauthorised family holidays

• Truancy and unauthorised holidays behind pupils’ absence figures

• Figures show pupils missed at least half a day at school without prior permission

• Number of primary school pupils registering “unauthorised absence” has increased by 23 per cent in only five years

• SNP criticised for not doing enough to tackle truancy

In some local authorities, more than 80 per cent of pupils at secondary school missed at least half a day of schooling, the figures showed.

While the Scottish Government attempted to play down the figures, saying they were not a “true reflection” of school attendance, critics said the statistics were “deeply worrying”.

Answering a parliamentary question from his SNP colleague Stewart Maxwell, Mr Russell said 155,839 primary school pupils and 181,202 of those at secondary had an unauthorised absence in 2010-11.

The total equates to just over 50 per cent of the country’s entire school roll. The figure has increased by a third, or nearly 83,000, since the SNP came to power in May 2007.

The number of primary school pupils registering an “unauthorised absence” has increased by 23 per cent in only five years.

The increase was even more marked among secondary pupils – 41 per cent higher last year than in 2006-7.

Overall, the figures show that 42 per cent of primary and 61 per cent of secondary pupils failed to turn up for class without authorisation last year.

Liz Smith, Scottish Tory education spokesman, said: “These figures are deeply worrying and show that the SNP are not doing enough to tackle the growing problem of truancy.

“However, parents also have a part to play in this – the more days a child misses, the greater chance of them falling behind and overall standards slipping.”

Larry Flanagan, general-secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland, the country’s largest teaching union, said: “Unauthorised absence clearly has significant impact on the potential progress and attainment of pupils in our schools.”

The figures show a third of primary pupils registered at least one unauthorised absence in the 2006-7 academic year but this had increased to 42 per-cent by last year.

For secondary pupils, the proportion had increased from 41 per cent to 61 per cent over the same period.

A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: “School attendance has remained virtually unchanged since 2006-7, with secondary attendance slightly up.”