The province’s Child Death Review Committee is echoing concerns raised by the Child and Youth Advocate about chronic absenteeism in schools.
The Justice minister recently received a report from the committee, and while details of the incident or incidents that sparked the report have not been revealed, the concern is clear.
The committee cited recommendations made in 2019 by then-Child and Youth Advocate Jackie Lake Kavanaugh regarding chronic absenteeism that have yet to be fully implemented.
In April, the Department of Education provided numbers to VOCM News on chronic absenteeism in the province’s schools.
They showed that in 2022-23, the number of high school students who were absent for 10 per cent or more of the school year rose to an astounding 68 per cent. That was up from 49 per cent in 2018-19.
About half of all students in the K-6 system were reported absent for 10 per cent or more of the school year—up from 23 per cent in 2018-19.
In junior high, the numbers rose from 35 per cent to 60 per cent in three years.
The Child Death Review Committee recommends that the Department of Education continue implementation of the advocate’s recommendations and that the Education Accord, which is in the process of being developed, address chronic absenteeism.
The committee’s report was forwarded to government on Aug. 13.