The Ontario government is introducing legislation that will tie high school grades to classroom attendance to address high absenteeism among secondary students.
The issue has generated great debate across the country.
Associate professor and program coordinator for Law and Society at Wilfrid Laurier University, Kelly Gallagher-MacKay, calls it an issue that needs to be addressed.
Kelly Gallagher-MacKay (Wilfrid Laurier University)
She says it’s important that policy makers and educators pay attention to attendance and “take positive steps to address…widespread absenteeism.” She says the Toronto Star did an investigative piece that showed “enormous percentages of students in high school (who) are missing more than 10 per cent of days.”
The problem says Gallagher-MacKay, is that the Ontario government’s solution doesn’t have anything to do with evidence on what works, and could have a “bunch of undesirable effects.”
She says students may not attend class because they serve a caregiver or even wage-earning role in the family. There are also a lot of reports that show some students don’t feel safe and that it’s not a positive climate for them. She says many students also don’t see school as worthwhile because they’ve already fallen behind.
