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More children and youth in Switzerland are absent from school

More and more children and young people are staying away from school
More and more children and young people are staying away from school Keystone-SDA

According to the teachers’ associations in German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland, more and more pupils are repeatedly absent from school for several days or even weeks at a time. The two organisations are therefore calling for measures to be taken.

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School absenteeism is about much more than simple truancy, wrote the Swiss Federation of Teachers (LCH) and the Syndicat des Enseignant-es Romand-es (SER) in a press release on Thursday. They presented their demands at a media conference in Bern on the same day.

According to the associations, a whole range of measures are needed, such as an early warning system and the establishment of a trusting relationship between teachers and children. It is also important to recognise the first warning signs, such as physical complaints.

It is also necessary to involve not only teachers and other specialists such as school psychologists or medical professionals, but also parents and society in general.

Translated from German by DeepL/jdp

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