Parents who repeatedly ignored child truancy fines would no longer be allowed to avoid criminal proceedings, Education Minister Evarist Bartolo told Times of Malta.

Mr Bartolo said parents were openly ignoring penalties but did not face the consequences of their actions due to lack of enforcement of legal provisions.

“We have had cases of parents taunting heads of schools saying: ‘fine me as much as you like; I won’t pay’. We won’t accept this. New measures will ensure that all parents who ignore fines are dealt with by the courts,” he said.

According to law, parents of truant children can be fined as much as €2.33 for each day a child misses school without a valid reason. Not paying the fines is considered to be a criminal offence by the Education Act.

Despite this, The Sunday Times of Malta last February reported that 80 per cent of fines imposed on truants’ parents over the past 10 years had been ignored, which meant that more than €1.4 million in fines remained unpaid.

Malta Union of Teachers’ president Kevin Bonello said most of these parents did not go to court.

“We have a serious problem whereby parents are being allowed to get away with negligence,” he said.

The education and the justice ministries got together to address the problem, in the hope of coming up with a stronger deterrent.

More than 900 secondary State school students missed a fifth of their classes this year. Also, 235 primary school students stayed home on average one day a week throughout the scholastic year. Here are some of the main areas. Graphic: Design Studio

“We cannot have this farce any longer. We have to be serious and introduce stronger deterrents,” Mr Bartolo said, adding that the Justice Ministry was working on measures to ensure criminal proceedings were held against negligent parents.

Government figures seen by this newspaper show that 1,140 primary and secondary school students missed a fifth of their classes this scholastic year.

About 900 of them were meant to be preparing for their O level examinations and these are not the only children missing school.

Mr Bartolo said the bulk of students skipping class missed about 15 days every year without giving any explanation. In view of the “worrying” trend of students playing truant, the government, he added, would be introducing a number of new measures, including increasing the fines imposed on parents.

Criminal action and harsher penalties will not be the only new measures to be introduced.

Mr Bartolo said parents at risk of poverty who were entitled to an extra €400 in annual benefits would only receive such assistance if their children attended school regularly.

The issue of truancy was flagged by the head of Cospicua primary school, Marion Falzon Ghio earlier this year. She told a public consultation meeting on the education system that schools were being “plagued” by truancy and parents who did not prioritise education.

Figures compiled by the Education Ministry (see below), show that the Cospicua area was below the average (eight per cent) in terms of truancy. About seven per cent of Cospicua students missed more than 31 days of school days without authorisation.

The highest absenteeism rates were reported in the Valletta-Ħamrun area, with 12 per cent missing a fifth of their lessons.

Mr Bartolo said the government would be targeting specific “problem areas” and drafting holistic plans for each school.

The Malta Union of Teachers had suggested freezing child allowance in the case of parents whose children missed school. Asked whether this was being considered, Mr Bartolo said such an approach would worsen the situation.

“Children shouldn’t be punished for the failings of their parents,” he said.

Problematic State schools will this year include proposals for tackling absenteeism in their annual development plan.

Another problem area being addressed by the ministry was misuse of sickness certificates provided by family doctors.

Mr Bartolo said the government would be introducing a sickness record card which doctors would have to stamp. This, he added, would allow the government to have a better record of how many sick certificates were issued by the different doctors.

In addition, the Student Support Services will be compiling a record of students who regularly miss school and will be treating each case individually.

Why are children absent?

Financial troubles are the leading cause of truancy, according to a series of interviews and case studies by the Education Directorate.

Documents seen by this newspaper show the vast majority of students missing school experienced serious money difficulties at home.

Many would not attend school to help family businesses.

Money problems also left children without the necessary tools to attend school.

Last February, Cospicua primary head Marion Falzon Ghio told Times of Malta that she often saw children attending school without lunch or in the same unwashed uniform for days on end.

A lack of adequate parenting skills was also a leading cause. Anxiety resulting from parents being in the process of separation, learning difficulties and disability were other reasons.

Parents’ addiction was also a leading cause.