How to excuse a school absence and follow unexcused absences

An absence is excused when an authorised person explains the reason within a set time, with the document that the school’s internal rules require. Every other absence is unexcused, and only those count towards measures. This guide gives the procedure, the documents to ask for, an example scale and the mistakes that make follow-up unfair. It works with a notebook or a spreadsheet, whatever tool you use.

Who excuses an absence, and within what time

The starting rule is simple: the parent or guardian explains the absence, and the senior supervisor or the school life office accepts it. The teacher notes the absence in the register but does not excuse it. This separation prevents one adult from noting, judging and punishing alone.

The time limit does not come from a national text that we could find: it is set in the school’s internal rules, for example “on the student’s return, by the next day at the latest, or within 48 hours for an illness”. Whatever limit you choose, display it, have parents read it at enrolment and apply it in the same way to every student.

The documents to ask for, by reason

The documents depend on the reason and on your rules. According to the instructions of your supervising ministry and your own rules, you may keep a short list, given here as common practice.

• Illness: a note signed by the parent, and a medical certificate when the absence exceeds the length your rules set.
• Death or serious family event: a note from the parent or guardian, presented in person if possible.
• Medical appointment or administrative errand: a note from the parent, with the time of leaving and the time of return.
• Official summons or taking part in a school activity: the summons or the authorisation signed by the head of school.
• Transport difficulty or bad weather: a note from the parent, accepted within the limit that your rules provide.

A procedure in five steps

A written procedure makes treatment fair. It fits on a sheet displayed in the school life office.

• The teacher takes the register at every session and notes who is absent.
• The parent or guardian comes with the document, or sends it with the student, within the set time.
• The school life office checks the reason and the document, then writes “excused” or “unexcused” in the register, with the date and the name of the person who decided.
• The student returns to class with a countersigned entry slip, which the teacher keeps with their papers.
• At the end of each week, the school life office rereads the list of absences still unexcused and informs the families concerned.

Following unexcused absences

In common practice absences are counted in hours, and the report card separates excused hours from unexcused hours. As an example only, the internal rules published by a public secondary school in a large city provide a warning from 6 unexcused hours, a reprimand from 12 hours and a disciplinary council from 30 hours. This scale is not a national standard: set your own, and have it adopted before applying it.

Thresholds are there to spot problems, not to punish without thinking. When a student nears the first threshold, call the family before applying a measure, and keep a record of the call. Corporal punishment is forbidden (law 98/004, article 35): no attendance measure may include it.

Read also: Managing Student Lateness: A Graded Method

• A table for each student: date, session, reason, document, decision, name of the person who decided.
• A weekly list of students close to a threshold.
• A log of calls to families, with the date and the follow-up.
• A review for each class at the end-of-term class council, to spot repeated absences.

The mistakes that make follow-up unfair

These mistakes come back in most schools, and they can be fixed without any special tool.

• Excusing from memory, without writing anything down: at the end of the term, nobody knows who decided what.
• Accepting a document for one student and refusing it for another because there is no common rule.
• Counting in days in one notebook and in hours in another, so the totals cannot be compared.
• Letting a teacher correct the register of a past session with no trace of the correction.
• Applying a measure without having warned the family that the threshold was near.

With Sahel EDU

In Sahel EDU, the teacher takes the register of each session on a phone, and a correction remains possible for a period the school sets; after that, only the school life office can correct. Absences are counted in hours, excused or not. By default, excusing is done in person with the senior supervisor; the head of school can open online excusing.

The scale from the internal rules can be set: the system proposes the measure, the senior supervisor or the head of school decides, and nothing is punished automatically. Students at risk (unexcused absences, low average) appear together with the log of calls to families, and the family sees the absences in its online space.

Read also: Attendance and absences, online or offline — Sahel EDU · Student Discipline and Sanctions Management

Frequently asked questions

Who can excuse a student’s absence?

The parent or guardian explains the reason; the school life office or the senior supervisor accepts the excuse. The teacher notes the absence but does not excuse it.

What time limit should be set for excusing an absence?

We have not found a national time limit: it is set in the internal rules, displayed, and the same for every student.

Is a medical certificate always required?

No, it depends on your rules. Many schools ask for it only beyond a certain length of absence and accept a signed note for short absences.

Can an absence be excused online in Sahel EDU?

Yes, if the head of school opens that option. By default, excusing is done in person with the senior supervisor.

Does the system punish repeated absences by itself?

No. It proposes a measure from the scale you have set, and the senior supervisor or the head of school decides.

See also

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