The summer holidays are approaching. Some parents let their children stay away from school on the last days of school to go on vacation. Then there is a fine. But how big is the problem actually?
If the school has not officially given the student a leave of absence, for example due to a death in a close family circle, the absence is considered an unexcused absence, commonly known as truancy. And skipping school just before the holidays can be expensive. Because unexcused absence from class is a misdemeanor according to the school law of Lower Saxony and can be punished with a fine. According to the Lower Saxony Ministry of the Interior, this can be up to 1,000 euros. And staying away right before or after the holidays is also included. The action against school refusal is the task of the school in cooperation with the regulatory authority, the youth welfare office and possibly also the family courts.
Reports come from the school or the federal police
According to press spokesman Udo Möller, the city of Hanover, for example, is conducting a large number of proceedings against school-age children and also against legal guardians. But there are only a few cases in which pupils have stayed away from class “as part of an unauthorized holiday extension or earlier move”, Möller tells the NDR Lower Saxony. “However, these cases are not statistically recorded separately, so that we cannot name any specific case numbers,” said Möller. Experience has shown, however, that there are such advertisements for all holidays in the one to low double-digit range. Appropriate notifications would usually come from the responsible school. But the federal police at the airport also made corresponding findings during departure controls and reported them.
Federal police are not specifically looking for school truants
Angelika Kubik from the Federal Police at Hanover Airport confirms this. They are not specifically on the lookout for possible truants. But of course it is noticeable if a school-age child is present at passport control during the current school year. The officials then asked appropriate questions and sent a report to the regulatory authority if the school did not have permission. However, she cannot give specific figures for such cases, says Kubik.
Skipping school before the holidays? “No noticeable problem” in Oldenburg
According to the findings of the Office for Schools and Education of the City of Oldenburg, the topic of “skipping before the holidays” is only about isolated cases. “It is not a fundamental or conspicuous problem,” the city said on request. There are no total figures for individual days of absence before school holidays.
A maximum of 200 euros fine in Oldenburg for truants
And if someone then skips school – be it before the holidays, after the holidays or at some point during the school year: is there a risk of a fine of 1,000 euros? At least not in Oldenburg. The imposition of a fine is always preceded by a conversation and a hearing. “Only if that was unsuccessful will administrative offense proceedings be initiated.” Parents and students are then fined 50 to a maximum of 200 euros, with subsequent notifications adding another fine.
Skipping school as a problem throughout the school year
All in all, given the number of more than 800,000 students at general schools, it does not seem to happen very often that parents let their children skip school in order to fly cheaper on vacation before the prices start to rise with the start of the summer holidays threaten to rise. The city of Braunschweig, for example, reports that it has no information at all on this subject. The problem of absenteeism, as it is called in official German, of course still exists – seen over the entire school year.
Prevention against truancy in Oldenburg and Hanover
The Oldenburg Office for Youth and Family becomes active if there are at least five unexcused days of absence. In these cases, there is a consultation to clarify. But before that happens, Oldenburg focuses on prevention, as stated in the so-called Oldenburg action plan against school absenteeism. With early and targeted intervention, the children and young people concerned are to be supported in attending school regularly again and in achieving their school-leaving qualifications. In Hanover they also want to tackle the problem in a more targeted manner. Under the leadership of the children’s hospital on the Bult, a working group is being set up, the city’s press office said.
Source : Tagesschau
