AbstractsSocial Work

This project deals with factors in absenteeism in two of the Montreal Protestant Schools during the period beginning with September l, 1945 and ending with February 28, 1946. The schools chosen for this project ware located in crowded industrial sections of the city where housing was substandard and recreational facilities were poor. Nearby water front activities of one area and the proximity of industrial development in the other area were responsible for a crowding of families who were seeking suitable employment. Absenteeism in these two schools has been a problem tor many years, according to the records of the Montreal Protestant Central School Board. New interest in this problem has been stimulated by the Quebec Compulsory Education Act of 1943. The School Boards of Montreal felt that at last they had the support of the provincial government in improving the school attendance and in raising the standard of their schools. They strongly desired to proceed with carefully studied plans to meet the challenge of this new legislation. It was interesting to note that the Montreal Protestant Central School Board reinforced its Attendance Department with trained social workers for the purpose of studying interrelated factors in serious cases of behaviour and absenteeism in their schools. The primary aim of this study is to find out the real reasons for absenteeism. [...]