May 28, 2003	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 25,1424

CASSINO (Italy) May 27: A school in Italy has decided to inform parents with mobile telephones via Short Message System (SMS) when their children are caught avoiding classes, Il Messaggero reported Tuesday.

The school, a training college in the central Italian town of Cassino, will also send an SMS to parents whose children have been unjustifiably late.

The initiative, the first in Italy, is subject to the parents’ consent. Data on their children’s’ attendance rate will also be published on the school’s website, which can only be accessed with a special password.—dpa