IDENTIFYING the causes of absenteeism and truancy in school is the responsibility of a school head teacher and principal, says Education Minister Dr Mahendra Reddy.

During a public consultation in Lautoka on Tuesday, he said teachers were mandated to ensure their students were receiving the best education and this included attending classes.

“If we know that absenteeism and truancy are happening in our schools, then we should find out what the causes of these things are,”Dr Reddy said.

“School heads need to identify the root causes of absenteeism and truancy so that we can work together to assist the students or problems identified through research.”

He said sometimes teachers had to go beyond the boundaries of the school to ensure the student was getting a good education.

“In your school system, school heads need to find out these things.

“As a teacher, you have to go out and find out the background of these children who might be missing out on classes.”

The Education Minister added that parents should play a part in ensuring students attended classes.

“There are many contributing factors and one of them could be the child’s parent so we need to identify these things and address them immediately.”