Manama: Bahrain's education ministry has called for a zero-tolerance policy towards students who failed to attend classes without excuses.
Students who are absent without valid excuses should be punished severely ad their parents should be encouraged to cooperate with schools on the commitment of their sons and daughters to school discipline, the ministry said.
"The attendance record should be included in the students' files," the ministry said in a series of measures taken to confront high levels of students' absenteeism around holidays.
High number of absent students
The call for action by the ministry was issued after schools last week sent reports about the high number of absent students on the days following the four-day Eid Al Idha break.
"Student committees and parent teachers associations should be reinvigorated to help promote the awareness campaigns about the need for students to attend classes and avoid skipping school days without excuses," the ministry said. "Teachers should also engage in teaching activities regardless of the number of students attending their classes."
Teachers often tend to cancel classes when there are not enough students present and prefer to postpone the lessons, a decision that is seen as encouraging students not to attend classes.