Andreas Schleicher, Director for Education and Skills at the OECD, presents at the webinar No Child Left Behind: Tackling the School Absenteeism Crisis on 30 April 2024.

1. Tackling the School Absenteeism Crisis
Andreas Schleicher, Director
30 April 2024
Directorate for Education and Skills

2. Defining absenteeism
Problematic school absenteeism does not refer to a single concept, but to
various concepts, as:
• school refusal (absenteeism due to the child’s emotional distress, especially
anxiety and depression),
• school phobia (fear-based absenteeism),
• truancy (unexcused, illegal, non-anxiety-based absenteeism),
• absence from specific lessons.

3. Drivers of absenteeism
Student-specific Teenage motherhood, low academic performance and repeating grades, lack of
caring relationships with adults, negative peer influence, bullying
Family-specific
Low family income, low parent involvement, unstable housing, at-home
responsibilities, stressful family events conflicting home and school priorities, language
differences
School-specific
Poor conditions or lack of school facilities, low-quality teachers, teacher shortages,
poor student-teacher interactions, geographic access to school, less challenging
courses and student boredom
Community-specific
Availability of job opportunities that do not require formal schooling, unsafe
neighbourhoods, low compulsory education requirements, lack of social and education
support services
Factors related to absenteeism
Source: REL Pacific (2014) Review of research on student nonenrolment and chronic absenteeism, https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/rel/regions/pacific/pdf/REL_2014054.pdf
(accessed 22/04/2024)

4. Absenteeism across the OECD and accession countries
Long-term absenteeism: Percentage of students who reported that they had missed school for more than three
consecutive months at any education level
Source: OECD (2023), PISA 2022 Results
0
10
20
30
40
50
Overall Disadvantaged Advantaged Non-immigrant Immigrant

5. Reasons for long-term absenteeism
Percentage of students who reported the following reasons for having missed school for more than three consecutive months at
any education level (OECD average)
Source: OECD (2023), PISA 2022 Results
0
20
40
60
80
100
I was sick I did not feel
safe at
school
I was bored School was
closed
because of a
natural
disaster
I had to take
care of a
family
member
I could not
reach school
because of
transportation
problems
I had to help
with work at
home, the
family
business or
on the family
land
I was
suspended
for something
I had to get
work to bring
money home
I was
pregnant
I could not
pay school
fees

6. Missing school due to boredom
Percentage of students who missed school for more than three consecutive months because they were bored:
Note: Figures show OECD average
Source: OECD (2023), PISA 2022 Results
14.1
22.2
Girls Boys
20.9
16.6
Lower secondary… Upper secondary…

7. Truancy in OECD and accession countries
Truancy: Percentage of students who skipped a day of school at least once in the two weeks prior to the PISA test
Source: OECD (2023), PISA 2022 Results
0
20
40
60
80
100
Overall Disadvantaged Advantaged Non-immigrant Immigrant

8. The impact of absenteeism on students, economies and societies (I)
Source: OECD (2023), PISA 2022 Results
• PISA 2022 data suggest that long-term
absenteeism is particularly harmful to
students’ academic success, especially at
higher levels of education
• While students who missed school for longer
in primary education scored 35 points lower in
mathematics, students who did so in lower or
upper secondary education scored 41 and 59
points lower, respectively, than their peers
who did not miss school for such long periods
(on average across OECD countries).

9. The impact of absenteeism on students, economies and societies (II)
• Social and emotional development: Absenteeism correlates with risky behaviors, such as substance abuse,
while also fostering feelings of alienation and social disengagement among students, impacting their emotional
well-being.
• Long-term socio-economic consequences: Absenteeism is linked to lower chances of school completion, early
leaving from education, and poor labor market outcomes, resulting in decreased lifetime earnings, increased
unemployment rates and social costs for individuals and society.
• A Swedish (2022) study found that just 10 annual days of absence in primary school are estimated to
decrease lifetime income by 1%–2% for both genders.
• A 2022 study in Ireland found that the overall lifetime costs associated with male early school leaving are
approximately EUR 29 300 in benefits and lost tax revenue, without factoring in expenses related to
health or crime.

10. How do education system respond to these
challenges?

11. Education for Inclusive Societies 2023 survey on COVID-19: an introduction
2
modules
1) identify practices developed and retained during and after the
pandemic, which have shown promise in fostering equity and
inclusion in education.
2) gather information on changes in student engagement and truancy
post COVID-19, addressing the impact on their educational
participation.
27
responses
Australia, Austria, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia*, Czech
Republic, England (United Kingdom), Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Korea,
Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Northern Ireland
(United Kingdom), Norway, Nova Scotia (Canada) , Portugal, Romania*,
Saskatchewan (Canada), Scotland (United Kingdom), Spain (Min. of
Education & Vocational Training), Spain (Min. of Universities), Sweden,
Türkiye

12. 0
5
10
15
20
25
Increase in drop-out Increase in truancy
Number of systems reporting an increase in drop-outs and
truancy (across educational levels)
Yes No
Reported changes in drop-outs and truancy
Note: 27 education systems replied to the survey; 22 and 23 systems provided valid responses on drop-outs and truancy, respectively.
Source: Education for Inclusive Societies, short COVID-19 survey (2023)

13. A breakdown across education levels
Primary
Lower
secondary
Upper
secondary
Other
Drop-outs 1 0 6 8
Truancy 6 6 6 5
The increase in drop-outs appeared to be
concentrated in upper secondary
education and in other levels, such as:
• Higher education
• Vocational education
• Special education
• Adult education
The increase in truancy seems more
frequent across levels, as it is distributed
across all educational levels, from
primary education onwards
A limitation: some education systems
flagged that they do not collect precise
data on absences at the national level, or
have delayed collections and analyses

14. The reported increases are not universal across countries, nevertheless..
Country Was any policy adopted to respond to drop-outs or absenteeism?
Australia Yes
Austria No
Chile Yes
Colombia Yes
Costa Rica Yes
Croatia No
Czech Republic Yes
England (United Kingdom) Yes
Estonia Yes
Finland Yes
Ireland Yes
Korea No
Lithuania No
Luxembourg Yes
Netherlands Yes
New Zealand Yes
Northern Ireland (United Kingdom) No
Norway Yes
Nova Scotia (Canada) No
Portugal Yes
Romania Yes
Saskatchewan (Canada) Yes
Scotland (United Kingdom) No
Spain (Ministry of Education and Vocational Training) Yes
Spain (Ministry of Higher Education) Yes
Sweden Yes
Türkiye Yes
TOTAL YES 20
TOTAL NO 7
Most education
systems do have
policies to
respond to these
phenomena
Source: Education for Inclusive
Societies, short COVID-19 survey
(2023)

15. What do these policies focus on?
• Provision of services such as mental health support and well-being initiatives (e.g., Australia)
• Strengthening data collection and early warning systems (e.g., Chile, Finland, Norway)
• Funding to schools or local entities for targeted approaches (e.g., England, New Zealand)
• Changing the compulsory schooling age (e.g., Estonia, Luxembourg)
• Engaging communities (e.g., Finland)
• Conducting positive messaging campaigns and building capacity (e.g., Ireland)
• Started research activities or working groups on the topic (e.g., Spain, Sweden)
• Higher education specific measures: student support, funding, scholarships, reduced fees, etc.
(e.g., Saskatchewan (Canada), Spain)
These policies cover a variety of policy areas and target different student outcomes

16. The OECD peer-learning project on school absenteeism
III

17. Peer-learning
discussions
Structured exchange: Informal yet structured discussions, focusing on specific policy
questions or challenges related to school absence and disengagement. Sessions, format
and duration to be chosen with participating education systems.
Short policy
briefs
Concise summary of data, policies and practices regarding school absence, emphasising
insights from peer-learning discussions. Can be also brief country case studies on
attendance policies, showcasing successful strategies and data utilisation for
understanding absence and disengagement.
Comparative
report
In-depth analysis and practical pointers. This can be a report comparing approaches to
addressing school absence across various OECD education systems. Can also include
surveys to gather comparative data from participating and additional systems to
enhance the report’s depth and breadth.
School attendance is a priority in many OECD and accession countries. Therefore, the OECD is planning a new peer-
learning project for education systems, to be funded by Voluntary Contributions. So far, we have a few systems signed up
to take part, including Ireland and Norway who are participating in the webinar today.
.
Context
Open to new participants.

18. > Definitions of
different forms of
absenteeism
(truancy, justified
school absenteeism,
school refusal,
school withdrawal,
pre-planned truancy)
> Early-warning
systems and
responses
> Data lags and
obtaining current
data
> Self-reported data to
monitor student
motivations
Data issues Drivers
> Thematic focuses on
various drivers and
recent research in
post-COVID times
such as:
> Parental attitudes
> Gender gaps in
engagement in
education
> Mental health and
anxiety
> Group specific
challenges – SEN,
immigrants, socio-
economic status
> Peer-effects
> Extension of
compulsory
education
> Mental health
services
> Early warning
systems
> Targeted funding
(breakfast clubs,
lunches, etc.)
> Group specific
interventions
(disadvantaged
areas, etc.)
> Family engagement
Policy responses Results
> Early results from
selected policy
options
> Evidence-based
interventions
Potential subtopics to be addressed in project

19. Tentative timeline
July – December
2024
Short policy
briefs
Short publication with case
studies.
Topic 1 – July 2024
Topic 2 – October 2024
Topic 3 – December 2024
January – June 2025
Comparative
report on
school absence
Draft comparative report
January – April 2025.
Final report with case
studies – May/June 2025.
June - November
2024
Peer-learning
discussions
Topic 1 – June 2024
Topic 2 – September 2024
Topic 3 – November 2024
May 2024
on topics and
organisation of peer-
learning discussions
Preliminary
discussions

20. CONTACT
Andreas Schleicher, Director, andreas.schleicher@oecd.org, X @SchleicherOECD
For education systems interested in the peer-learning project, please contact Lucie
Cerna, Senior Analyst, at lucie.cerna@oecd.org
Beyond COVID-19: Evaluating Post-Pandemic Education Policies and Combatting
Student Absenteeism (Policy Brief), Forthcoming early May 2024