A new education strategy will include tangible measures to combat truancy while reassessing the situation, according to Education Minister Evarist Bartolo.

Addressing the first in a series of consultation meetings, Mr Bartolo said he was committed to combating absenteeism.

“We will be embarking on a fact-finding operation to get the real picture of student truancy,” he said.

“We would like to know how many students are missing school, why and how often. Then we can start addressing the problem more effectively.”

Figures compiled by the Education Directorate reveal that one per cent of primary schoolchildren miss more than 40 days of school every year.

The issue was flagged up by the head of Cospicua primary school, Marion Falzon Ghio, during a public consultation meeting held with the Education Minister last week.

Ms Falzon Ghio said Maltese schools were being plagued by truancy and parents who did not prioritise education.

Mr Bartolo told this newspaper the solution was twofold.

“We need to make schools more relevant so that children will want to stay there. The second thing we need to do is raise the penalties for parents who do not prioritise school.

“We cannot allow the situation to go on,” he said.

The Sunday Times of Malta reported that more than 80 per cent of parents of truant children were regularly ignoring fines imposed on them.

More than €1.4 million in these fines issued since 2000 remain unsettled.

Mr Bartolo said he would find a way to counter this but disagreed with a suggestion by the Malta Union of Teachers to withhold children’s allowance for non-compliant parents.

“We cannot have measures that are to the detriment of children. That doesn’t make sense,” he said.