Statistics recently made public by Education Minister Dolores Cristina are rather worrying. The minister said that a total of 1,762 students had not attended school without giving a valid reason during the last scholastic year. There were 691 students who did not attend school for 10 days, 440 students who did not attend between 11 and 20 days and 631 students who were absent for a period of time exceeding 21 days.
There are various reasons why children start missing school without a valid reason, some on a regular basis. Family problems are the most common reason, especially when there is continuous friction between the parents. This, in turn, leads to an unstable family life characterised by much stress and, sometimes, even the neglect of the children's basic needs, education included.
Then one has to mention child labour. Although, thankfully, Maltese governments have for several decades been combating this problem, it is a fact that there are still highly-irresponsible parents who are content to see their children miss school in order to make use of their services in one type of work or another. Although today it is very difficult for a construction worker to take his child with him to the construction site or for a street vendor to have a child assisting him during school hours, still, some children are occasionally kept at home, or in other places not open to public scrutiny, to assist in work well beyond their years.
The most worrying type of school absenteeism, however, is without doubt that where the student absents himself/herself from school of his/her own volition. I spent 12 years in charge of the educational programme at the Corradino Correctional Facility and one of the things I shall always remember is that many inmates stated that they started their criminal activities soon after they began missing school on a regular basis and for no valid reason at all. Regular school absenteeism is one of the most slippery paths leading to a life of delinquency.
Obviously, every problem has a solution and there are various ways in which we can tackle school absenteeism. The most obvious one is to make school life as interesting as possible to all students. I think that a lot is being done in our schools to make education a satisfying experience for as many of our students as possible. However, some serious problems, such as too much work being piled on teachers and students through overloaded syllabuses, remain to be effectively tackled in the interest of all stakeholders.
More serious, in my opinion, are the social problems that several of our students have to face. It is heartening to note that students today are provided with excellent counselling services at school. There is little that can be done when, for example, a marriage breaks down but, at least, educators should do their utmost to make sure that the children of such marriages find support at school, which they might lack at home. What is very important here is that educators do their utmost to understand children whose difficult and trying behaviour is the result of family problems. Some children with serious family problems have continued along the right path and made a success of their lives because, at a crucial point in life, they found the support of their teachers and school administrators. If they find such support lacking, it is very easy for such children to start dropping out of school.
Parents who have serious family problems can help their children best through seeking professional advice for their own personal problems. Some parents let a precarious family situation deteriorate to such an extent that, eventually, it not only ruins their own lives but even those of their children. Let's face it, some family problems are very difficult to solve, but doing something about them may help.
Finally, the idea of a School Attendance Improvement Task Force, which was set up in 2005, was a good one. Today, we need a new and sustained drive to eradicate school absenteeism in the interest of the children involved and the rest of Maltese society.