The Ministry for Education has announced that school attendance has once again been made compulsory when children return later this month.

In previous months, parents were able to keep their children away from school, as a measure to protect them from the pandemic. However, new rules and regulations have since been announced by the Education Ministry detailing how students can return to the classroom.

“Once we are slowly returning back to normal, this obligation to attend will be effective once again as from this new scholastic year,” the Education Ministry clarified.

In 2020, Pauline Miceli, Commissioner for Children, had urged the ministry to make exceptions based on the case presented.

She feared that students would end up not showing up to school if it is not compulsory, and it was already a challenge to reach children not attending compulsory schooling before the pandemic.

With attendance not being mandatory due to the pandemic, some students were already “falling through the gaps”.

What do you make of this new direction?