Letters of excuse
- Learners are to produce a written excuse from their parent or guardian if they have been, or are going to be, absent from school.
- Learners are to produce a written excuse on the day from their parent or guardian if unable to participate in sports, either class PE or extra-murals. There is to be no forgery of letters of excuse.
Parents’ responsibilities for school attendance
A parent is expected to:
- Ensure that the learner attends school daily, on time and for the whole school day, unless there is a valid reason for absence;
- Ensure that the learner is not taken out of school without a valid reason (family holidays are not a valid reason);
- Inform the principal or class teacher if the learner is absent, or expected to be absent or late for school, with a valid reason;
- Co-operate with the school in resolving the problem if the learner is absent from school without a valid reason; and
- Encourage and, if possible, assist the learner to make up for time lost through absence from school.
The school’s responsibilities
The school community, led by the principal and SGB, is responsible for promoting and monitoring school attendance in order to give learners the best chance of benefitting from their school experience.
The SGB’s responsibilities
Rules dealing with punctuality and regular attendance should be part of an SGB’s Code of Conduct for learners.
Following up learner absence
If a learner is absent for three consecutive school days without explanation, the class teacher concerned must report the absence to the principal. The principal must, as soon as possible, make a reasonable effort to contact the parent by whatever means are suitable for the circumstances of the school and of the family concerned.
If the learner is absent without valid reason for three consecutive school days, the principal must:
- Inform the parent of the importance of regular attendance;
- Emphasise the learner’s duty to attend punctually and regularly in terms of the school’s code of conduct for learners;
- If the learner is of compulsory school-going age, inform the parent of the legal implications of section 3 of SASA;
- Inform the parent of the risk of the learner’s record in the class register being cancelled for continuous absence;
- Request the learner’s return to school;
- Where necessary, elicit the support of the district office; and
- Elicit intervention from government or non-government social development agencies, where necessary.
If, despite the intervention of the principal, a learner persists in being absent without valid reason:
- The learner must be charged with breach of the school’s code of conduct for learners; or
- The learner’s record in the class register must be cancelled if the learner is absent for 10 consecutive days.