The issue of ‘self-inflicted’ conditions and illnesses were in the limelight last week as employers said that sick leave should not cover things such as hangovers, sunburn, sports injuries and the like. The response from unions has been vociferous, to say the least.

But in Malta – like other southern European nations – it can be taken to extremes, whereby people take strategic sick leave and others utilising the entire allowance to supplement their annual holiday leave. It is a sense of false entitlement that probably stems back to the issues we write about today – truancy and absenteeism.

The government yesterday announced that new regulations will stipulate that children will have to present a doctor’s certificate for every day they are not in school. In addition, the authorities will reserve the right to call parents in for a talk or ask to carry out an independent examination of the child by an approved doctor in cases where the child reports sick often. Going one step further, the government said it could also send its own inspector (a doctor, one assumes) to make a home visit to ensure that the child is indeed unwell and cannot attend school.

The Social Solidarity Minister said that his job was to ensure the wellbeing of the child and that the exact measures will be revealed in the near future. At the moment, children are allowed to take three days off school a month without having to present a medical certificate. Of course, there is the added complication of truancy, and the fact that youngsters can obtain a medical certificate under their own initiative, but in introducing the need for a certificate every day, would-be truants might think twice about forging a note or going to the doctor’s.

These measures will certainly help to try and eliminate the culture of absenteeism. If parents are forced to be more stringent, then the sense of entitlement that some children might have in faking an illness, might also be nipped in the bud. Of course, there are instances where parents are too overprotective and children are mollycoddled. This, one assumes, is where the “chat” with parents might come in. On the other hand, if a child is pulling “sickies” to try and escape bullying, they might be more inclined to speak up and tell their parents or teachers of their issues.

The only people that would not welcome this new practice are those who abuse the system. It is a very good initiative all round – in terms of the interest of the child, the discipline of our society and the work ethic of generations to come. Malta needs to be competitive and to be competitive, we must want to play in the game. If we always know there is a way out, it will be abused.