School attendance must remain compulsory, Children's Commissioner says

School attendance should remain compulsory, the Children's Commissioner said as she warned that children regularly absent before the pandemic will continue to fall through the cracks.

Pauline Miceli said that children’s attendance in school should remain compulsory as stipulated by law and any absenteeism because of the COVID-19 pandemic should be decided on a case-by-case basis.

“Whilst it is also important to protect those children who may be vulnerable in light of COVID-19, the office strongly suggests that only such children should be exempt from physically attending school on a case-by-case basis following professional advice and confirmation,” Miceli said.

The commissioner was reacting to comments made by Education Ministry Permanent Secretary Frank Fabri last week when he announced guidelines for the re-opening of schools. Fabri had said the ministry was amending the policy on attendance in order to promote attendance and learning but also avoid unnecessary penalisation for absenteeism when it is needed.

“We will be amending the policy on attendance of pupils at school so that absenteeism can be monitored by our educators and professionals, while parents and families are not penalised over a circumstance that they do not have control over,” he said.

Miceli said the office was deeply concerned that if school attendance does not remain compulsory, children in living in vulnerable situations, particularly those who were regularly absent from school prior to the pandemic, will continue to fall through the net.

“Attendance for online schooling was already quite poor between March and June. We must also keep in mind those children for whom attending school is a ‘safe haven’. Parents/carers of these children may take the opportunity to keep them at home and continue to expose them to abusive situations,” she warned. 

They said that school attendance was even more so crucial when research showed that children with a strong sense of school belonging did better at school and generally had high life satisfaction.

Her office said according to a study done by UNICEF - Understanding What Shapes Child Well-being in Rich Countries, Malta ranked low overall with regards to life satisfaction.

“In the cases where children are unable to physically attend school and will follow online schooling, checks and balances should be in place to ensure that children’s rights and needs are being fulfilled. The Office urges the Ministry for Education to put in place the necessary measures to ensure children’s wellbeing,” Miceli said.