The Minister of Education of the Government of the Canary Islands, Poli Suárez, stated this Thursday that school absenteeism decreased by two tenths in the 2024/25 academic year —the last one with closed data— and stood at 5.8%. In the current academic year, up to the first semester, the figures reflect 2.04% in Early Childhood Education, 1.94% in Primary Education, 5.51% in ESO (Compulsory Secondary Education), and 5.29% in Bachillerato (Baccalaureate), while in Vocational Training the rate exceeds 16%.
In a appearance before the parliamentary commission, at the request of the Nationalist Group, he stressed that work is being done with the goal of "consolidating and continuing to improve" these results. Furthermore, he highlighted the "rigor" of the data thanks to a "unique, automatic, and secure" web application that authorizes data in real-time and replaces the old shuffling of paper certifications.
As he detailed, this tool allows for the generation of reports by municipality, by school, by educational stage, or by specific periods, which are shared with schools, educational inspection, and municipal social services. He emphasized that school failure "must not only be combated from the classroom" and that coordination with Fecam (Federation of Canary Municipalities) and local police is necessary, given that "the underlying reasons" for repeated absences must be addressed.
Francisco Linares (CC) indicated that the figures for the islands are "relatively good," although he warned that, in Tenerife, school absenteeism is concentrated with greater intensity in the southern region, where rates above 5% are recorded.
He agreed with the minister that, to tackle absenteeism, "the school, educational inspection, and the town councils play a very important role, as this phenomenon is often linked to the family situation."
"The control is being carried out, and I know many town councils that, through municipal school councils, hold sessions precisely to guide parents about a problem," he explained.
Despite this, he described it as a "disgrace" that only 44 out of the 88 municipalities in the archipelago have established municipal school councils.
Linares also requested a specific intervention plan in tourist areas, because "living in the summer always with the beach nearby and that leisure atmosphere" favors a "slightly higher" school absenteeism rate.