New documentary highlights absenteeism at Winnipeg schools

CTV’s Jeff Keele has details on the new documentary drawing attention to high absentee rates at Winnipeg schools.

A new documentary by a Winnipeg faith-based organization is calling on the provincial government to address high rates of absenteeism.

Former Frontier School Division superintendent Reg Klassen, who participated in the film, said it was hard to hear about students who weren’t showing up for class, some for months at a time.

“It was painful, it was painful for all of us in the school division,” he said, adding that the problem has become worse since the pandemic.

“What matters is that we’re getting a message out and we need to do something significant,” he said.

The new documentary, Absent, was produced by Inner City Youth Alive. Executive Director Kent Dueck said their research shows some schools in Winnipeg’s North End are experiencing high rates of absenteeism.

“It can be things happening in the home, it can be challenges related to addiction, it can be mental health,” he said.

Now, he’s calling on schools, divisions, and the province to do more outreach, to get students back in class, and put more programs in place to keep them there once they do return.

“The issue is always getting pushed out of the way, and it’s sort of an open secret,” he said.

Winnipeg School Division Superintendent Matt Henderson told CTV News that 6 per cent of students in the division struggle with attendance. He said staff members do make house calls in cases where students are missing school for a long period of time.

The school division is putting provisions in place to try and keep students at school.

“What we’ve done is we’ve really extended the day for as many students as we can,” he said. “We’re feeding as many students as we can, breakfast, lunch, snacks. We see the power of programs like football.”

Manitoba Education Minister Tracy Schmidt said the province is working hard to address absenteeism, and said the school nutrition program they introduced is paying off.

“What we’re seeing is that kids are showing up to school, they’re showing up on time, and they’re showing up ready and excited to learn,” she said.

Schmidt said they will be releasing annual data on the nutrition program in the near future.