Attendance and Well-being

Students have the right to a safe school environment that provides them with the knowledge they need for a good life and to contribute to society. This is a shared goal and responsibility for all adults in the school. How well students manage in school gives a good indication of how their future lives will unfold; attendance in school and academic success are clearly linked and have been over time (Swedish National Agency for Education, 2019).

School is also of great importance for the health and development of children and adolescents. For those who have experienced difficulties at home, a positive school experience can enhance resilience to life's challenges (Höjer & Johansson, 2013). Problematic school absenteeism can be understood as a welfare issue, as it increases in line with a country’s democracy and welfare (Gren Landell, 2021).

Therefore, research ambitions, particularly in Sweden, need to be intensified regarding the identification of preventive factors that contribute to well-being in schools, which is one of the sub-goals of the current project, as well as highlighting measures that promote attendance in school.

Project objective

The overarching purpose of the project is to study how, what, and why problematic school absenteeism appears to be increasing despite the measures taken by school leadership, staff, and guardians in relation to students' absenteeism.