Teachers and principals understand that a chair remains empty because the child is ill or for family reasons. But they note many abusive absences. “School is viewed poorly. All excuses are good in relation to the family situation: we say the child is systematically absent on Wednesday, stomach ache, alarm failure, medical appointment in the morning without coming to school afterwards -noon, the heating outage, the family argument which has caused the parent or child to be disturbed… Parents choose the easy way out”Eric Berteau list. “There are complacent doctors too. Before I reported them to the doctors’ order but I never heard back. We listed the certificates submitted by a student and we realized that he saw four different doctors over the year!”
Voluntary absenteeism supported by parents deeply annoys teachers. “A student showed up at 10:30 a.m. because he was finishing his video game… with his father.testifies a secondary school teacher.
If a day of absence, justified or not, does not have too much of an impact on the child’s learning, it is another thing when the latter does not come to class regularly. According to parent defense organizations (Fapéo and Ligue desfamilies) and the general delegate for children’s rights, the number of students dropping out of school has almost doubled, going from 50,000 to 93,000 between 2020-2021 and 2023. -2024.
Fight against school dropouts: “Time is running out”, warns an MP
Lack of sanction
Teachers feel helpless in the face of this growing phenomenon. The student is entitled to 9 half-days of unjustified absence during the school year. “In September, the first denunciations were reported. Parents only come to receive the document reminding them of compulsory education.points out Eric Berteau who does not have the impression that the Wallonia-Brussels Federation (FWB) carries out very effective monitoring. “I may be shocking, but we have to deal with family allowances. It is only through money that people understand. There is already a threat of a fine of €200 if the school obligation is not respected but, to my knowledge, a parent has never really been sanctioned.”
Teacher sickness absence rates steadily rising
He is not the only one to advocate for a stronger penalty. “It is time for the FWB to act firmly in the face of these organized absences, this laxity and this irresponsibility of parents. When prevention is not enough, we must move on to sanctions, the only language understandable for some.”curses a professor.
