Playing truant is no star act

You don't need to read through statistics to notice that students who often play truant have a higher drop-out rate than other students. Missing out on school is not just missing out on academic qualifications and dimming the chances of clinching a good job or wading in the mire of joblessness.

It also means making preteens and teenagers doubly vulnerable to the temptations and dangers of the street - a far cry from the glamorous spirit of adventure associated with the call of the wild. Of course, you can home in on the genius of Albert Einstein, Richard Branson and Philip Green to cite mavericks who didn't give a toss about regularly going to school. But these are exceptions and not the norm, even though academic results are one of the poorest indicators of potential.

Furthermore, exam results can no longer be regarded as dependent on regular school attendance. In Britain where 50,000-55,000 kids absent themselves from school everyday and over one million students play truant per year, the pass rate at both GCSE and A-Levels is at an all time high indicating that exams are getting easier. Growing disillusionment in the public examination system has compelled several top league independent schools to substitute A-Levels with the International Baccalaureate diploma or offer both in tandem. The IB has a broader and more rigorous base plus it enjoys international credibility. The groundswell for change is gaining momentum in Britain where the education system is getting bogged down by the Labour government's heavy-handed policies and further weakened by a confusing hotchpotch of qualifications.

The situation in Malta is notably different. For starters, truancy is not escalating as it is in Britain though it is becoming a major problem in some schools. The Education Minister's reply to a parliamentary question regarding absenteeism raised earlier on this year revealed that court action was taken in almost 900 cases of absenteeism in the first term of this scholastic year. Breaking down this figure points to 137 cases in state primary schools and 733 cases in state secondary schools while translating them in percentages of the relevant school population works out as 0.82 per cent and 4.28 per cent respectively. Meanwhile, two out of four cases in Church schools ended up with court action taken against the respective parents/guardians. Independent schools are not included in these figures.

In which cases is court action taken? Is this preceded by a verbal/written warning?

A spokesman for the Education Division explained: "Every month, the schools report absenteeism to the School Social Work Service of the Education Division. These reports are then assessed by the School Social Workers. Court action is taken when parents fail to ensure that their children attend school and absent themselves without a valid reason. Also court action is taken when despite social work intervention children continue to miss school.

When the schools send their monthly absenteeism reports to the School Social Work Service, a letter is immediately sent to the parents asking them to give a valid reason within three days to the head of school for the days the student was absent. They are also informed that should they fail to do this, court action can be taken against them." Significantly, social workers follow up cases of persistent absenteeism "without a valid reason". In cases where parents do not co-operate, court action is taken, though where appropriate, social work intervention is continued.

Are there any changes in the pipeline regarding the truancy policy?

"The setting up of colleges and the strength of the services helping schools in this regard will eventually help students in problems that lead to truancy. The Ministry of Education will also be basing its policy and action on the Clark Report on School Attendance Improvement. Published in October 2005, this report recommends: i) the introduction of truancy "sweeps" (comprising police, wardens and educational officers) to pick up children roaming the streets by day and take them back to school or a designated area, ii) the introduction of a "focal point" that would take a holistic view on school attendance, and iii) a crackdown on the abuse of medical certificates that mask unauthorised absence from school. To-date none of the above have been implemented.

More to the point are the causes of truancy and absenteeism. Boredom - disaffection - falling prey to bullying - peer pressure - violent antisocial behaviour - family dysfunction - low social economic status, all rank high. Personal reasons including school phobia, health problems, insecurity, and depression add to the highly complex web of interrelated factors. Unfortunately, there are also some parents, from both affluent and deprived circumstances, who scorn schooling. Although this comprises a miniscule amount (heartening news indeed), such an attitude tends to rub off on to their children. Add the impact of a society hooked on the fast lane, hurtling along an IT revolution and rewriting family values (which generation doesn't?) and you've got the propulsion as well as the backdrop to living in the 21st century.

There are no easy solutions to truancy and absenteeism. Yet, drawing comparisons with the workplace is a good starting point since high morale in schools as in factories or offices, leads to high attendance rates. We have to make school something that more preteens and teenagers see a purpose in, rather than see them sour in the onslaught of exam-driven lessons. Adopting innovative strategies such as substituting an age-related curriculum with an ability counterpart is gaining plaudits. Yet more thinking "out of the box" proposals are needed where students, teachers, parents and the community at large are at the core of an ongoing, open communication.

What is certainly an extraordinary measure is the mix of longer school hours (from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m.) and on-line teaching throughout the night at Bridgemary Community Sports College in Gosport, Hampshire. Meaning the availability of round-the-clock tuition at one of the most truancy-hit and failure stigmatised colleges in Britain. Kick-starting next September, teachers will be working flexi-time. Cheryl Heron, the head teach, staunchly believes that her proposed pilot project is a viable way forward. "We are talking about schools changing to meet the needs of the children rather than requiring children to fit in with the conventional school year, which dates back to agrarian times," she said in an interview which appeared in The Daily Telegraph.

Harnessing IT to tailor make learning programmes is clearly a sign of responding to the demands of today's lifestyles, though following such routines poses significant questions about family lifestyles and communication. Nevertheless, this is the kind of system that appeals both to night birds and students who are bored stiff at school and might very well blossom in an out-of-the-classroom ambience. Stating that she had the support of both the teaching and administrative staff, Mrs Heron added: "Children need to be stimulated to want to come into school. The reason why most kids play truant is through boredom. If they are not responding to the classroom then perhaps they will respond to online learning and e-mentoring."

The Department for Education in Britain will be closely monitoring the impact of this 24/7 timetable. No doubt the college itself is eager to build on its improving standards for under Mrs Heron's guiding hand, A-C pass rate at GCSE level has gone up from 19 to 35 per cent since she joined Bridgemary in 2001, while truancy has gone down by three per cent last year, though she does not mince her words in stating that truancy is still a big problem.

Time is needed to assess how successful this experiment will turn out to be. While longer school hours and e-learning are no panacea, they certainly point to how today's schools must begin to adapt to fast-changing lifestyles as well as pre-empt a rapidly evolving work culture.