Voice-SD: Anti-Truancy Measures Not Aimed at Punishing Anyone

Bratislava, 26 June (TASR) - The measures designed to curb truancy and protect the social welfare system from abuse are not aimed at punishing anyone, Voice-SD leader and Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok told a press conference on Friday, with other Voice-SD ministers also attending. According to the ministers, restrictive measures alone are not a solution, and every decision should be accompanied by specific support. Labour, Social Affairs and the Family Minister Erik Tomas (Voice-SD) defended a proposed set of anti-truancy measures that is currently undergoing an inter-departmental review. Under the proposal, if a family's situation does not improve after child benefit payments have been redirected to the local municipality as a special recipient for three months, the state will stop paying the benefit altogether. "In practice, local government desk officers often want peace and quiet, so they prefer to simply pay out the money gradually one way or another. So we're introducing a second phase to actually change this, because otherwise the special recipient mechanism just keeps going on and nothing happens," explained Tomas. Education Minister Tomas Drucker (Voice-SD) stated that even if the municipality does not receive the money directly, it can still be used to help ensure that children attend school, such as through financing outreach activities. "Our main goal is to give these children a better chance at a future than their parents might have had," he said. The ministers also highlighted other measures they say are helping to improve school attendance and reduce abuse of the social welfare system, such as stricter rules for parents excusing absences that were introduced at schools with the highest levels of absenteeism. The number of excused missed class periods fell by 800,000, while unexcused absences dropped by 20,000. "If we look at the 90 schools with the highest absenteeism, most of which are located in marginalised Roma community areas, we managed to reduce absenteeism by 17.5 percent," stated Drucker. Regarding the 'Work instead of Benefits' measure, Tomas said that more than 4,000 people chose to work over a ten-month period. jrg