Truancy down by 26%, but MUT questions ‘forced’ school attendance

Teachers’ union MUT has applauded new statistics showing a decrease in school truancy, an issue that has long been on educators’ agendas.

Absences recorded during the academic year 2012/2013 decreased by 8% when compared to the previous academic year. Total authorised absences, on the other hand, increased by 8.6% and made up 61.2% of total absences whereas unauthorised absences dropped by 25.9%.

According to the NSO, the average number of absences during the period under review stood at 15.4 days per student, down by 1.1 days in comparison with the previous academic year.

The NSO said that in absolute terms, male students recorded higher levels of absenteeism, most of which were classified as authorized, while the levels of unauthorised absences dropped substantially both among male and female students. Reportedly, on average, male and female students at the same level of education exhibited similar levels of absences.

The MUT however said the issue was being dealt with quantitatively – in terms of numbers – with the quality of education being forgotten in the process.

“We question the mentality of grants being handed out as long as children are fetched to school,” the MUT said of recent top-up benefits for low-income parents, conditional on children not being absent from school.

“Such mentality is leading to a variety of new issues, including disruptions by students who are not interested in learning and situations where sick students are sent anyway in order to claim the grant. The Union hopes that a more comprehensive approach is considered in the future and initiatives are not undertaken just to look good on statistical tables,” the MUT said.

Statistics show that the largest volume of absences in state schools was recorded by upper secondary students, while in the case of church and independent schools, students at primary level of education recorded the highest absenteeism levels.

Increases in authorised absences were recorded in state, church and independent schools when compared to the previous scholastic year and results showed that unauthorised absences rose by 11% in church schools and declined in both state and independent schools – 28.0 and 17.3% respectively.

According to figures, students of all ages recorded lower levels of absences during the scholastic year 2012/2013, with the exception of students aged 16 and over.

In particular, students aged 11 to 15 exhibited drops of up to 19% in their absence levels, when compared with the previous academic year. Total absences among students aged 16, however, increased by 3.4% over 2011/2012.

The NSO said that on average, eight-year-olds were the ones scoring the lowest absence levels, while 16-year-olds had the highest average levels of absenteeism.

The results showed that absences in state schools had decreased by 10.5% when compared to the previous year.

Unauthorised absences went down by 28% while authorised absences increased by 11%. On average, students attending state schools located in the South Harbour district accumulated the highest average number of absences (40.5 days per student), while Gozitan students recorded the lowest average number of absences with 13.9 days per student.