Absence
Absences from class and the justification thereof are important questions of school life. Absences from class are closely linked with being late for class It is often the case that students are late from school and their teachers do not let them come in to class. Parents often find this rather unjust, as because of a couple of minutes their children are forced to be absent from an entire class. According to Paragraph (8), Article 20 of Decree No. 11/1994 (VI. 8.) of the Minister of Public Education and Culture, if a student does not arrive in time for the beginning of the class, then he or she is late, which has to be justified. The duration of the period of coming late to class can be-in accordance with house rules-added and counted as an aggregate sum. If this aggregate time equals or exceeds the duration of a class, then this will count as a justified or unjustified absence. Students arriving late to class cannot be excluded from said class: Our position is that they cannot be excluded especially by having them stand outside the classroom without proper supervision. According to Point 11, Article 121 of the Public Education Act supervision in institutions of education is defined as ensuring the protection of the physical and moral integrity of children/students starting from the time of entry into the educational institution to the time of exiting the educational institution lawfully and during the compulsory activities and programmes organised outside the educational institution as part of the educational/pedagogical programme of the institution. That is because if the late student is left in the school without supervision, then that can violate additional rights. (K-OJOG-68/2006, K-OJOG-81/2006)
There are also cases, where due to a number of different reasons a student is prevented from attending school for a prolonged period. In this case, the issues arising in connection with the student's absence must be addressed as well.
| A parent contacted us in March with the complaint that her child was going to start studies abroad from the middle of March and due to the expected number of absences; the school informed her that her child might be required to take grading exams. She supplemented her petition verbally by saying that her child had already been given dates for these grading exams in every subject. We informed her pursuant to Paragraph (6), Article 20 of Decree No. 11/1994 (VI. 8.) of the Ministry of Public Education and Culture students whose total number of absences (both justified and unjustified) accumulated over one academic year is greater than two-hundred and fifty class hours on the general educational foundation part of secondary school education, or twenty percent of the theoretical classes of part of the stage of education preparing for vocational qualifications; one-third of class hours in basic art education, or thirty percent of class hours in a given subject and therefore their performance was not assessable during the academic year, may not receive a grade at the of the academic year, except, if the teaching staff authorizes them to take a grading exam. The teaching staff may deny the student the opportunity to take a grading exam, if the number of unjustified absences exceeds the number of justified absences and the school has complied with its notification obligation. If no mark can be given for the student's performance, then he or she can continue his or her studies by repeating the grade he or she is in. If the number of the student's absences already exceeds the determined number at the end of the first semester, and thus his or her performance may not be graded, then he or she shall be required to take a grading exam at the end of the first semester. Pursuant to the first indent of Paragraph (3), Article 21 of the same decree the student's grades shall be established on the basis of his or her performance and grades during the academic year, or his or her performance at the grading examination, supplementary examination, or correctional examination. Pursuant to Point b), Paragraph (1) of Article 48 of the Public Education Act, the teaching programs of schools shall determine the local curriculum, and within the framework of this- inter alia -the requirements and forms of student testing and examination, and that of the evaluation and qualification of the diligence and conduct of the student, as well as the forms of evaluation and qualification-within the framework of the relevant legislation-of student performance. Based on the above our position is that if the child's performance during the school year can be assessed with a grade, regardless of the number of absences, then the child shall not be required to take a grading examination. The evaluation aspects of the school are set out in educational program of the school. If a student is required to take a grading exam, then his or her end-of-term shall be determined on the basis of his or her performance at said examination. (K-OJOG-373/2006.) |
Content
|
