"Education and Knowledge" monitors students' commitment to school hours and refers violators to "family care"

Because of the unjustified absence. Schools warn parents of students not to transfer their children's files to «child protection»

  • Schools should immediately inform parents of their children's intentional absenteeism and hold a meeting with them. Archival

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Schools in Abu Dhabi warned parents of students against transferring their children's files to the Child Protection Center in the event of repeated unjustified absence of students, noting that frequent absences and late start hours stand in the way of the student's ability to reach his full academic potential, while the Department of Education and Knowledge confirmed that it monitors students' commitment to school hours and the number of days of their absence, and cooperates in this context, with the concerned authorities, including the Child Protection Center and the Family Care Authority to ensure Student commitment.

In detail, schools in Abu Dhabi sent letters to the parents of students warning of the unjustified absence of students, noting that if the child's unjustified absence from school continues, the child's case will be referred to the Department of Education and Knowledge for review, and the case may be referred to the Child Protection Center, or the competent authorities for legal escalation.

The schools indicated that they sent more than one notice this year to the families of students who are absent from school without excuse, pointing out that frequent absences and delays stand as a barrier to the student's ability to reach his full academic potential, as absent or late students lose valuable educational time, and are less likely to master those skills, concepts and principles necessary for success.

Schools in Abu Dhabi also decided to organize workshops for students' families to confront the phenomenon of mass absenteeism at specific periods of the year, in addition to frequent absences throughout the school year, noting that the workshops aim to discuss the importance of regular school attendance and ways to encourage students to go to school regularly, and share tips and strategies on how to help the child stay motivated and engaged in his learning, and how to address any challenges that may prevent him from attending school regularly.

The schools stressed the need for all students to attend school on all days mentioned in the school calendar, to make full use of the curriculum and complete its courses, while the school will continue to record absences and deal with them according to the instructions contained in the attendance policy.

On the other hand, social workers, Mahmoud Nizar, Laila Hamed, and Maryam Suhail, confirmed that the problem of school absence is one of the most prominent problems facing the educational field at the level of schools in various curricula, pointing out that there is a link between the phenomenon of school absence and the student's relationship with the school and his sense of belonging to it, so the absent student lacks the various learning experiences that he gets daily from school, due to the absence of his interactions with colleagues and the various educational situations to which he is exposed, which reflects negatively on his academic achievement.

They stressed the importance of students' regularity in attending school, as it results in improving the academic level of students, their academic achievement, and helping them complete the school stage in which they are registered without stumbling blocks, while absence has many negative effects, including delay in the school curriculum, poor achievement resulting from the acceleration of the curriculum by the teacher, and the resulting lack of student absorption of information due to its abundance, in addition to the weak spirit of students' belonging to the school.

They attributed the unjustified absence of students to several reasons, including what is due to the student himself, which is represented in his personality and psychological composition, and the inability of some students to keep pace with their colleagues academically, which causes them frustration and pushes them to frequent absences to escape from school, and some of them are due to the school not meeting the education with its personal and social requirements, and the lack of sufficient and appropriate activities for the student's tendencies and abilities, and the failure to identify his problems and develop appropriate solutions to them, and some of them are due to his family, including poor family control, or the presence of family problems. It entails the neglect of the student.

For its part, the Department of Education and Knowledge in Abu Dhabi confirmed that students have the right in cases of justified absence to compensate for the work and tests they missed, but if the absence is not justified, the school agrees with the student's guardian on the appropriate behavior pending verification of the circumstances of absence and its justifications, stressing the need for the parents of students who intend to absent their children from school for several school days, inform the administration of the absence and its reasons at least ten days before the expected absence, so that teachers can prepare a list of duties. The student - or his guardian - is responsible for contacting the administration to find out the duties and tasks assigned to him, which must be completed and handed over to the teacher before absence from school, or shortly after returning to it.

The department explained to "Emirates Today" that under the absence policy in the Private Schools Policies and Guidelines Manual, absence at a rate of more than 10% of the total number of school days - approved for each school according to its curriculum - is worrying and requires the attention and treatment of the school administration, knowing that intentional absenteeism from school is not authorized, and schools must immediately inform parents of incidents of intentional absenteeism from school, hold a meeting with them and students to discuss the matter, and closely monitor the attendance of the student concerned after that.

The Department indicated that it monitors students' commitment to school hours and the number of days of their absence, and cooperates in this context with the concerned authorities, including the Child Protection Center and the Family Welfare Authority, to ensure that students adhere to school hours and have equal access to educational opportunities, in accordance with the provisions of the relevant laws and regulations. As part of this cooperation, the Department refers cases in which students' absence exceeds 30 days without an excuse to the Family Care Authority to communicate with parents and take the necessary measures, regardless of the school's procedures and the number of days of absence allowed under its approved policies.

She stressed that attendance and absence policies oblige school administrations to develop their own policies for the number of working days and absences allowed, and the measures they will take against violators, and to obtain the approval of the department before applying them. While schools are committed to the attendance and absence policy, schools rely in developing their policies on the provisions of the Code of Conduct and Discipline issued by the Ministry of Education, noting that the ministerial decision on the Code of Conduct considers absenteeism from school a second-degree violation, and therefore the criteria for absence differ and the measures taken against students are included, according to the approved school policy.

Types of absence and its causes

The Department of Education and Knowledge divided the absence of students into justified absence, and unjustified absence, noting that cases of justified absence are limited to illness, the death of a first- or second-degree relative, scheduled appointments with the doctor, an official community mission, mandatory attendance to an official authority, in addition to sudden travel such as travel for medical treatment or the death of a family member, and this necessitated that it be supported by a letter signed by the guardian or proof of this with approved documents, while otherwise it is considered an unjustified absence. A student is considered habitual to deliberate absenteeism from school if he is absent without the knowledge or consent of his guardian, or if the guardian colludes with the student to be absent without permission.

• 30 days of unexcused absence exposing the student and his family to accountability.

«Education and Knowledge»: Absence at a rate of more than 10% of the total number of school days is worrying and requires the attention and treatment of the school administration.

• Specialists: There is a link between the phenomenon of school absence and the student's relationship with the school and his sense of belonging to it.