System of Dealing with School Absences Will Change

Bratislava, 5 June (TASR) - The system of excusing missed classes of pupils of primary and secondary schools as well as children who fulfil compulsory pre-primary education in nursery schools will change since MPs approved on Thursday an amendment to the Education Act. The amendment describes two regimes - a stricter one and a more flexible one. The latter will be available to schools that don't exceed a certain number of absences during the reference period of the school year. In this case, they will be able to excuse a higher number of lessons without a doctor's note. For both arrangements, the school will be able to excuse a pupil without a doctor's note for five consecutive calendar days in the event of illness, and the nursery school for seven days. In the more flexible scheme, the school will be able to excuse ten days per calendar month and at the same time no more than 15 days in the last two months. Under the stricter arrangements, pupils will be allowed to miss no more than 15 days per school term without a doctor's note due to illness. In the case of nursery schools, it will be 14 days per month or 21 days per two months under the more flexible regime, and no more than 21 days per school term in the stricter version. am