Despite some parents ignoring truancy fines, the overall attendance in schools has shown significant improvement over the past year, as a new approach to dealing with the problem is starting to bear fruit.

Educational Ministry figures seen by this newspaper show that all the government colleges across Malta and Gozo had registered improvements in attendance.

At first glance, the figures do not appear to indicate much of a shift, with schools registering a two per cent increase in attendance. During the last scholastic year, the average rate of truancy was eight per cent.

Back then, however, a student would have to miss 30 days of school to be considered a truant.

This year the truancy threshold has been slashed, with students only having to miss nine days without a valid reason.

This, Ms Zahra said, meant the actual improvement in attendance was far greater than two per cent.

Last year, this newspaper revealed that a shocking 1,140 primary and secondary school students had missed a fifth of their classes.

The majority, 900, were meant to be preparing for their O level exams.

Ms Zahra said reforms in the medical certification system meant parents could not “shop around” for doctors who would dish out certificates to students who were not actually ill.

She also said parents who were at risk of poverty and thus entitled to an extra €400 in annual benefits only received such assistance if their children attended 95 per cent of classes.

This, she said, had helped eliminate the misconception that students were ‘entitled’ to miss a few days of school with no reason.

The increase in attendance is also reflected in the number of fines issued, which decreased by a third last year, from 3,794 to 2,825.