Shafaq News– Baghdad

WhatsApp messages exchanged among students have become a key tool for coordinating mass absences in Iraqi schools, a trend the Education Ministry says should be handled at the school level.

The coordinated absences involve groups of students collectively agreeing —often through messaging applications— to skip classes on the same day, students told Shafaq News, disrupting attendance in multiple provinces.

A spokesperson for Iraq’s Education Ministry, Karim Al-Sayyed, told our agency on Wednesday that the ministry does not intervene directly in cases of collective absenteeism, explaining that schools are empowered to investigate violations and impose penalties through internal disciplinary councils.

Al-Sayyed noted that existing regulations give schools broad authority to act, including issuing warnings, deducting conduct marks, or escalating measures in repeated cases.

An example cited by education officials occurred last year at a secondary school in Maysan province, where a disciplinary council suspended students for three days, deducted 15 conduct marks, and summoned parents following a mass absence.

Under current bylaws, repeated or prolonged absences can result in harsher consequences, including failing the academic year, or permanent dismissal.

Social researcher Karim Al-Jabiri linked the rise in coordinated absences to peer pressure and declining academic motivation, pointing out that students often comply with group decisions to avoid social exclusion, while limited job prospects weaken incentives to attend school.

Educational supervisor Nawal Sabbah said inconsistent enforcement by school administrations has allowed the practice to spread, urging stricter application of regulations, including deregistering students who miss 15 consecutive days without valid justification.

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