A total of 631 parents were taken to court for failing to send their children to school on more than 21 occasions in the last scholastic year, statistics tabled in parliament reveal.
25% of the 1,762 parents arraigned for the unauthorised school absences between September 2008 and July 2009 hailed from localities bordering the Grand Harbour, namely Valletta, Floriana, Marsa, Bormla, Isla, Birgu, Kalkara and Xghajra.
On the other hand, only 1.5% of parents taken to court for truancy hailed from Gozo.
Bormla was the locality which was mostly afflicted by the truancy blight. Of the 141 parents arraigned in the locality, 101 failed to send their children to school on more than 11 days. These included 66 parents who failed to send their children to school on more than 21 occasions.
High truancy rates in the Cottonera area correspond with poor educational achievement and welfare dependence. On the other hand ,Gozo’s low level of truancy corresponds to statistics showing Gozitan pupils getting the best results in Junior Lyceum examinations.
Other localities registering very low numbers of truancy were Mqabba, Balzan, Lija, Marsaxlokk, Santa Lucija and Swieqi, where less than five parents were arraigned on truancy charges.
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