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Absenteeism in primary and secondary schools

Last Updated: 01 Mar 2022

News Parliamentary Replies

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Mr Leon Perera, Aljunied GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education (a) in the past three years, what is the annual percentage of students who have missed at least 10 percent of school days out of the total student population in primary and secondary schools respectively; and (b) of these students, what is the respective breakdown in terms of (i) housing type (ii) household income and (iii) race.

Response

1. For the past three years, the annual percentage of students who have missed at least 10% of school days is about 1% of primary school students and 2% of secondary school students. This does not include those absent for medical and other valid reasons. Amongst these students, slightly over half are from 1-3 room HDB flats.

2. All schools have a system to monitor and support absent students. Through the UPLIFT initiative, schools work with community partners to support the students and their families to reduce the risk of absenteeism.