No penalty, no reason to go to class: principals
Principals in Cape Breton want penalties for the worst skippers
Last Updated: Monday, March 3, 2008 | 4:18 PM AT
CBC News
Too many high school students in Cape Breton are skipping school and getting away with it scot-free, some principals say.
On any given day, between 10 and 30 per cent of students are absent, the principals of several big high schools on the island told CBC News.
At Sydney Academy, it's an especially "serious problem," said principal Kevin Deveaux.
"We have a large percentage of the student population whose attendance has slipped significantly," he said. "They don't feel a connection to the school."
Until 2001, principals could penalize students who missed too much time without an acceptable excuse by refusing to let them write exams or by taking away their course credit.
Absenteeism has become such a problem, Deveaux said, that under the old rules more than 45 per cent of Sydney Academy students would have been ineligible to write at least one exam last year.
"We need some policy that would allow them to have that impetus to be here on a regular basis," he said.
The Department of Education says the penalties for poor attendance were removed in order to foster a more positive learning environment in schools.
Several principals are calling on the province to revise the Education Act. They have the option of suspending students, but they say that's counter-productive and want other measures in place to deal with the worst offenders.
Penalties would teach valuable lesson
Brian Spencer, principal of Breton Education Centre in New Waterford, said consequences for skipping school would teach an important life lesson.
"If I was working for somebody and I didn't show up to work on a regular basis, I'd probably get fired," Spencer said. "I think a lot of students leave the school system ill prepared for future education or future work."
Principals cite a long list of reasons why students skip class, from disputes with teachers to being tired from late-night work shifts.
Student Megan Kelly admits it's easy to skip. The Grade 11 student at Breton Education Centre says she missed many of her Grade 9 classes and never got in trouble for it.
"I was always thinking, oh my mom's gonna catch me," Kelly said. "But it ended up the first semester was over. I was just thinking, who cares if someone catches me."
Though there was no penalty, Kelly said her marks dropped enough to scare her into attending class regularly.
The Department of Education is funding various pilot projects across Nova Scotia in an attempt to encourage students to go to class. At one school in northern Cape Breton, for example, students get one-on-one time with a teacher mentor.
The department has a working group looking at the issue of attendance. It's expected to release a report later this month.
