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School Attendance

New policy aims to improve learner attendance

Tue, 11 May 2010 16:00

The Department of Basic Education gazetted a policy on learner attendance on 4 May 2010, Government Gazette No. 33150. The policy is applicable only to public schools and will be implemented in schools as of 1 January 2011.

The policy aims to promote regular school attendance of learners by instituting proper recording and monitoring systems. The policy was developed in response to the need for national norms and standards for the recording, management and monitoring of learner attendance.

It provides schools with standardised procedures for these processes with a view to ensuring equity in the treatment of learners across provinces. The key aspects of the policy are:

* All learners, with the exception of grade 12 learners, must attend school on every school day, including examination periods (before, during and after examinations) for the total number of official school days of each year

* Grade 12 learners may take five days study leave before the first day of the national senior certificate (NSC) examination and

* A learner's record will be cancelled in the class register if he or she is absent from school for 10 consecutive school days without a valid reason. Learners' records cannot be retained in the class register when they are no longer attending schools as this inflates learner numbers.

Other reasons for cancelling a learner's record include exemption from compulsory school attendance, expulsion, and transfer to another school, registration for home education, etc. If a learner returns to school after his or her record has been cancelled, the learner must be readmitted to school.

The policy re-asserts the responsibility of parents or caregivers to ensure that their children attend school regularly. School governing bodies (SGBs) are expected to monitor learner attendance rates at the school. Provincial Education departments should raise public awareness of the educational and social importance of regular attendance at school.