The education system is failing those in the most vulnerable situations, the Commissioner for Children, Pauline Miceli fears, again urging the government to reconsider making school attendance compulsory.
“The fact that the increase of absenteeism is particularly pronounced in certain localities shows precisely what we were fearing,” Miceli told Times of Malta.
“By leaving attendance optional we would be undoing decades of hard work and throwing away what we have so painstakingly achieved,” she said.
In the past, a series of measures to tackle truancy were in place, including fines for those parents failing to send their children to school.
But, this year, because schools have reopened amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the government announced no fines would be issued as parents would be free to decide whether their children should go to school or not.
On Wednesday, Times of Malta reported that over a quarter of students enrolled in state schools in the inner harbour area have been missing class in recent weeks without providing a valid reason for doing so.
Miceli had warned the government in September that if school attendance did not remain compulsory, children living in vulnerable situations, particularly those who were regularly absent from school prior to the pandemic, would continue to fall through the net.
She has since reaffirmed her position, saying the most vulnerable students were more likely to drop out and be lost in the system.
“We made it clear with the authorities that leaving school attendance on a voluntary basis would impact badly on the educational, social and emotional development and well-being of those children who are most likely to drop out of school early with no qualifications and motivation to further their training and education.”
This is not the first time that truancy among students from this area – namely Ħamrun, Marsa, Floriana, Valletta, Msida, Paola and Pietà – has made headlines.
However, in the past two scholastic years the rate of absenteeism during the first months of school hovered around the six per cent mark, far below the current COVID level.
The government has urged parents to send their children to school, insisting it is safe to do so as there are mitigation measures in place.