Absenteeism in schools has continued to increase despite the education authorities’ efforts to tackle the issue, with the problem expected to be exacerbated next year when schools re-open after the coronavirus outbreak has passed.
According to the latest figures, issued by the National Statistics Office, covering the 2017-2018 scholastic year, absenteeism increased by 4.3 per cent when compared to the previous year.
On average, every student missed an estimated 11.8 days throughout the school year. This marks an increase of 0.3 of a day when compared to the previous academic year. The majority of these absences – just over a week – were authorised days, while the remaining were unauthorised. In the latter, the student would not have had a valid reason, such as having medical issues for instance, for missing school.
Despite measures in place to assist students while schools are shut amid the virus outbreak, the education authorities have acknowledged truants might find it even harder to re-integrate once they return to school in September, resulting in more absenteeism.
As was the case in recent years, male students were more likely to play truant and missed more school than their female counterparts. This was the case at all levels, both in primary and secondary schools.
Students attending state schools were, once again, the ones missing out on lessons most, with absenteeism spiking by 6.2 per cent over the previous year. Similarly, those in independent schools missed 4.9 per cent more during the year under review.
Male students are more likely to play truant
In Church schools, the problem seems to have improved with students there missing school less than they did the year before. This has resulted in Church schools registering a slight decrease of two per cent in absenteeism.
Who are the truants?
The lowest average number of absences per student was recorded among eight-year olds, who missed about 8.4 days each.
Those aged 16 and over held the highest average number of absences per student at an average of 24 days.
However, the numbers for the older students were the only ones that improved when compared to the previous year. In fact, absenteeism among those in Form 5 decreased by 13.7 per cent over the previous year. The highest increase was registered among students in Year 5 – 16.6 per cent over the previous year.
Students residing in the Northern district registered the highest increase (11.7 per cent) in their absence levels, though on average, those who live in the Southern Harbour district accumulated the highest average number of absences (14.6 days per student). The lowest average number of absences was recorded by students residing in the Western district.
Reacting to the figures, an Education Ministry spokesperson said every day at school counts.
“Showing up, as the famous saying goes, is 80 per cent of success. Too many absences harm the particular student: there is a link between absenteeism, achievement gaps and dropout rates. It also harms the class, but also slows down instruction for all students,” the spokesperson said.
The latest data, he said, needed to take into consideration the increase in the number of new students, which can vary from 700 to 800 students per year. An increase in the schools’ population is naturally reflected in the number of absent or present days.
The education authorities welcomed the improvement in attendance by students in their final year of compulsory education. This, the ministry spokesperson said, was a result of the introduction of alternative learning schemes that provided students with other ways to learn.
“Students who were habitual absentees found schooling more up their field and made more sense as they were exposed to hands-on, practical subjects and learned the usual core subjects in an applied and tangible format.
“In addition, vocational subjects such as agribusiness, hospitality, engineering techno-logy and information technology that were also introduced at the time in mainstream secondary schools enabled a good number of students to engage better in their schooling which naturally affected their attendance.”
School life after coronavirus
Malta’s schools have been shut since March 13 amid the novel coronavirus outbreak, with exams postponed to later this year.
So far, the plan is to re-open schools in late September, in time for the start of a fresh scholastic year.
Asked whether there were concerns absenteeism could spike in the wake of the pandemic given that students would have been away from school longer than usual, an Education Ministry spokesperson said the outbreak would naturally have a “marked impact”.
“Students who were habitual absentees will now find it more challenging to integrate again especially those who are also struggling to cope with online learning,” he said.
Efforts have been stepped up to ensure educators are still in touch with their students so that they are still provided with all the assistance they would be given under normal circumstances, the spokesperson noted.
“We want all students to feel that they are again in their second home once schools open back their doors,” he said.