Authorities try to reel in absentee students with educational campaign emphasising school safety

The Education Ministry is planning an educational campaign to encourage students who are skipping school because of the COVID-19 pandemic to get back into the classroom

Schools reopened in October with various safety measures, including socially distanced desks, the compulsory wearing of face masks by students and staff and frequent hand sanitisation
Schools reopened in October with various safety measures, including socially distanced desks, the compulsory wearing of face masks by students and staff and frequent hand sanitisation

The education authorities are planning a campaign to reel in children back to the classroom at a time when almost a quarter of primary and secondary students are missing out.

Education Minister Justyne Caruana said the ministry believed that every child had a right to an education and the best form of learning was in the classroom. "The Education Department is implementing a number of measures and is planning a campaign to reach out to parents, custodians and students who can attend school but are missing out in these unprecedented times ," she said.

The education department has published a request for quotations for a marketing campaign targeted towards parents and families. "This campaign is aimed at parents and families to educate them about the effects school attendance can have on their children’s personal development, social development, performance and success," the call published in the Government Gazzette said.

It continued that school attendance experienced a downward trend this scholastic year due to COVID-19, however, it was important to communicate to all that schools "offer safe learning environments with health authorities confirming that there are no school transmissions of COVID-19 among students".

Caruana told MaltaToday that schools reopened after implementing more than 50 safety measures to mitigate the risks associated with COVID-19, following advice from the health authorities.

In a reply to a parliamentary question tabled earlier this month, on one particular day in mid-November 11.5% of students failed to attend school with no justification for their absence. Another 15.1% were absent for justified and medical reasons.

READ ALSO: 11.5% of students failed to turn up at school on Monday

Prior to the reopening of schools, the Education Ministry had amended the attendance policy to avoid unnecessary penalisation for absenteeism when needed. This was met with criticism from the Children’s Commissioner, who warned that non-compulsory attendance will only allow children in vulnerable situations to fall through the net.

School attendance is compulsory in normal circumstances and penalised at law. However, the coronavirus pandemic led the ministry to relax the policy given the uncertainty caused by the virus.