Unauthorised school absences have declined

Unauthorised school absences have dropped by almost 27% over five years, according to figures collected by the National Statistics Office.

The statistics covering the academic years between 2012/2013 and 2016/2017 show that school absences - both authorised and unauthorised – have declined by 25%.

The numbers form part of a wider report covering various statistics related to obligatory schooling.

While in 2012/2013 students attending primary and secondary formal education amounted to 710,161 days during the academic year, these dropped to 531,730 days during the academic year 2016/2017.

Over the same period, unauthorised absences registered a decrease from 275,262 days during academic year 2012/2013 to 202,101 days for academic year 2016/2017.

The figures show that female students tended to have fewer absences overall. Among male students, the NSO observed a decline in absences from 55% to 52%.

A decrease of 3.9 days of absence per student was noted during the period from an average of 15.4 days to 11.5 days.

Private schools had the lowest average number of authorised absent days per student (4.8 days) while the lowest average number of unauthorised absences per student was recorded in Church schools with an average of 1.7 days.

During academic year 2016/2017, students residing in Attard had an average of 7.5 days of absence, which was the lowest average per capita. The locality with the highest average number of absences per student was Bormla, registering an average of 23.7 days.

Other takeaways from the NSO report

All statistics relate to pre-primary, primary and secondary education

• Between 2012/2013 and 2016/2017, student population remained stable at around 55,000 students
• Church schools tended to have the highest average class sizes at both the primary and secondary level. State schools, on the other hand, consistently had the smallest average class sizes
• During 2016/2017, 58% of students were enrolled in a State school. This was followed by Church schools with 29% and private schools with 13%
• Share of non-Maltese students stood at 10% in 2016/2017, up from 5% in 2012/2013