Truancy sweeps by police proposed

One of the proposed measures to cut down on the number of schoolchildren who skip school without their parents' permission or knowledge is to introduce truancy "sweeps" carried out jointly by the police and wardens.

The task force appointed to draw up a review of school attendance recommended that these officials could be granted the power to pick up - but not arrest - children playing truant, taking them back to a designated area or back to school.

Under the "sweep" proposal, the police, wardens and education officials would join forces for a day and target particular areas such as shopping centres.

The public, such as shopkeepers, could also be asked to refuse to serve children of compulsory school age during school hours.

The system is already in use in England. During truancy sweeps conducted during November and earlier this month, 80 schoolchildren were stopped in a shopping centre in central Bristol on December 2 and asked to explain their absence from schools, the BBC reported. Sixty three of them were accompanied by parents or carers.

Bristol councillor Jos Clark was reported as saying: "We hope truancy sweeps will help more parents and carers understand that every day counts and missing even one day of school can have an adverse impact on their child's success in exams and gaining qualifications."

The review, entitled School Attendance Improvement, published by the Education Ministry in October, indicated that in the scholastic year 2003-2004, children in Junior Lyceums attended an average of 90.58 per cent of schooldays, area secondary schoolchildren attended an average 78.59 per cent, while the attendance rate of girls' and boys' schools previously known as opportunity centres was a mere 65.76 per cent.

The review has set the target of achieving 92 per cent attendance in Junior Lyceums, 85 per cent in secondary schools and 75 per cent for girls' and boys' former opportunity centres by the 2007-2008 scholastic year. The review also put forth a number of recommendations intended to ensure that pupil attendance is given a high priority in all schools.

The recommendations of the taskforce, composed of a five-strong team chaired by Marilyn Clark, outlined the services which need to be developed to support schools and families to improve school attendance, and provides practical guidance for schools in ensuring best practice. It is believed that prevention should be an important priority in that absenteeism can be covered from a preventative standpoint in much the same way as drugs, alcohol abuse and existing sex education programmes.

One main recommendation is the setting up of a Focal Point, a centralised structure to co-ordinate matters relating to school attendance and to facilitate activities among the various services already in operation. The Focal Point would also provide advice, analysis of data, random inspection of registers and review casework services to schools in order to ensure the prompt detection of children whose attendance is a cause for concern and the effective use of a range of alternative strategies in order to effect improvements. This system would take in hand the introduction of the truancy sweeps.

Another recommendation concerned the abuse of medical certificates, which had spurred debate even in foreign education systems. Presenting a medical certificate is one way through which a child is authorised not to attend school. Although this is different from truancy - which is when a student does not attend school without his/her parents' permission or awareness - the review states there is an apparent abuse of the medical certificates system, possibly a result of the emphasis on court action as a first resort.

The taskforce recommend that while court proceedings should only be undertaken when all other alternatives have been exhausted, dubious medical certificates should be challenged with the possibility of re-introducing the School Medical Officers, appointed by the Education Division, to investigate prolonged medical absences.

The report also draws up a non-exhaustive list of cases which authorise a student to stay away from school, such as in the case of particular extra-curricular activity, family holiday and visits to the dentist or other medical practitioners. A child may be allowed to stay at home with an ill relative for a limited time only if the Education Division authorises the head of school to excuse the student.

A number of students identified as regular absentees who formed part of focus groups led by the taskforce, complained that they considered their school day too long, especially when they had homework to do after school. Since some students who may have difficulty in academic work and find sitting down writing for an extended period of time tiresome, the task force also suggested the introduction of morning clubs offering informal educational activities for schoolchildren who arrive very early at school, and homework clubs to help students who find difficulty in completing their homework.

Dr Clark said it was now up to the Education Ministry to develop the structures to put the various recommendations into action. In fact, the ministry will start the consultation process on the recommendations of the task force on Monday. The report is available online on www.education.gov.mt/attendence.htm.