1,146 booked for truancy in 2016
There were 1,146 reported contraventions against parents of truants in government schools between the scholastic year of 2015 and 2016.
The information, tabled by Education Minister Evarist Bartolo, shows a decrease from the two previous scholastic years.
Truancy refers to cases where students are absent from school, without a certificate to justify their absence.
Minister Bartolo was replying to a parliamentary question put forward by Nationalist MP Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi.
The number is the lowest reported over the past three years. In the scholastic year 2013-2014, there were 1,599 reported cases, while there were 1,294 reported cases in the scholastic year 2014-2015.
The 1,146 cases from 2015-2016 were reported from the 13 different government colleges. St George Preca College reported the highest number of cases for three scholastic years straight. The college reported 498 cases of unauthorized absenteeism in 2013-2014, 268 in 2014-2015 and 187 in 20152016, showing a large decrease with each scholastic year, despite still having the highest number.
Maria Regina College holds the second highest number of reports between 2015 and 2016, with 177 reports. The National Sports School had the least number of reports with only two cases reported.
Replying to a query regarding what is being done in order to curb absenteeism in schools, Bartolo said that regular monitoring of attendance by social workers, early intervention from schools with students who regularly do not attend school, monthly monitoring by the Principal Social Worker and the Senior Social Worker of interventions by social workers who work with these students and their families, continuous communication between the Director of National Support Services for Schools and the Principal Social Worker and evaluations every term regarding student attendance.
He also listed the introduction of the Medical Certificate Record Card in November 2014, of Learning Zones for children who need learning support, the Alternative Learning Programme for Form 5 students who need academic help and involvement of the police to assist social workers to assist with parents who are not cooperative when necessary, among others.