Truancy in YN

[Estado Novo Portugues]

Universal schooling is a relatively recent development in history—for a long time, education was not a right but a privilege for the most well-off families—but an overwhelming majority of nations have now adopted the practice, by passing laws that make basic education free and mandatory for all citizens.

In jurisdictions with compulsory education, truancy or "playing hooky" is being absent from school without a valid reason (sickness, caring for family members, etc). Attending school is a right and obligation that is held sacrosanct by many governments, especially in nations strongly guided by ideology or religion, as it gives youths the foundational knowledge and values necessary to live as responsible law-abiding citizens in civilized society. In addition, skipping school is very disrespectful for teachers who spend considerable time preparing the classes. For these reasons, truancy is often treated as a serious offense (on par with bullying and cheating) by school authorities. In some cases, truant students and their parents may also face criminal prosecution or loss of welfare benefits.

So where does your nation stand on this issue? Here are a few questions you can use as a starting point, but you are welcome (and expected) to be more verbose in your answer.

Is education compulsory?
At which age does compulsory education start?
At which age does compulsory education end?
Is homeschooling legal?
How do schools deal with students who skip class?
Is truancy a crime? For whom, students or parents?
Are there truant officers (officials who catch truant students and bring them back to school)?
Has truancy been a big problem in your nation?

---

In the Holy Catholic State, education is compulsory for everyone aged 6 to 18 (16 for rural areas). Homeschooling and private schools are prohibited (except for children of expats and diplomats)—all Portuguese youths must attend state schools in order to receive the proper religious, moral and civic instruction as dictated by law.

In all schools, there's zero tolerance for any truancy, whether it's skipping school or any class within (there are no electives, all classes are mandatory including morning prayers). For a first offense, the student would typically have to stay behind after school and do manual work, like scrubbing the toilets or copying lines from the Bible. If the student skips again, a good caning by the headmaster will be in order. "Frequent fliers" will find themselves in solitary confinement, locked in a small room alone with nothing but a pile of schoolwork that must be done by the end of the day, or else a caning and more solitary confinement will ensue. Repeat enough times (more than 10 truancies) and the student will be forced to repeat the year, no matter how good the grades.

Once students are 12 years old, they can also be criminally charged for truancy (on top of the punishments given in school). First offense gets a warning and a transport back to school. Subsequent offenses are met with a whipping, and a fine for the parents. If, despite all attempts, the student can't be convinced to stay in school, it's off to the salt mines camp. Called centros de ensino especial (special education centers), these boot camps are specifically made for students who are too unruly for regular schools. There, the students get up at 05:00 every day and do hard "character building" exercises under the watchful eyes of former drill sergeants, to set them back on the right path. If that doesn't cure their truancy, nothing will.

Even though we don't have dedicated "truant officers", the regular police are more than enough for this. All citizens are required by law to carry their national ID cards, and to show them to officials whenever demanded. For students, the ID card says which school they go to and which grade they're in. In addition, students must wear their school dress at all times from Monday to Friday. This makes it easy to identify who should be in school. Businesses like movie theaters and malls must turn away students during school hours (or else be prosecuted for enabling truancy), so there's nothing to lure them away from their educations. For these reasons combined, truancy has never been a problem under the government of Afonso Salazar.

[Creslonia]

Is education compulsory? Yes
At which age does compulsory education start? Age 6
At which age does compulsory education end? Age 18
Is homeschooling legal? Yes - primarily online school
How do schools deal with students who skip class? Skipping a single class will get you a warning in primary school, and calls to parents. Skipping in intermediate and secondary can go on your record, which universities and employers see. You can also get suspended and even fail the class.
Is truancy a crime? For whom, students or parents? Either the student or parent is fined depending on the circumstances. Parents can be sent to jail if their child(ren) are too truant.
Are there truant officers (officials who catch truant students and bring them back to school)? This is generally managed by the Creslonian National Police Youth Welfare Unit.
Has truancy been a big problem in your nation? About twenty percent of students are regular truants, with up to 40 percent skipping irregularly. According to Ministry of Education statistics. Because primary/intermediate/secondary schools are funded by the government (and thus taxpayers) unless they are private, the economic cost of truancy has the potential to be quite high.

Nursery school/daycare is available once a child is born and goes until age 2. From age 3 to 5, children can go to preschool. Primary school runs from Years 1 to 6, and covers ages 6 to 11. Intermediate school runs from Years 7 to 10, and covers ages 12 to 14. Secondary school runs from Years 11 to 14 and covers ages 15 to 18. Students can legally drop-out from Year 12, and this is not considered truancy.

[Allanea]

Is education compulsory? Not in the sense which is typically intended. Parents are expected to provide food, lodging, and education for their children, and of course it would be illegal for a parent to, say, refuse to feed their kid, and they're expected to provide some manner of education, however they have an extremely broad choice in terms of the education they provide. Compulsory schooling, in terms of laws that mandate that minors turn up to specific state-controlled schools at 08:00 and remain there until 16:00 does not exist. Private schooling, homeschooling, and unschooling are all legal.

At which age does compulsory education start? Compulsory education never starts.

How do schools deal with students who skip class? Through internal disciplinary action, from detention to expulsion.

Is truancy a crime? For whom, students or parents? As mentioned, truancy is not a crime, not even a legal category. On the other hand, were a parent to decide they want to make their six-year-old go out and collect money for them by panhandling would be a substantial crime.

[Skyhooked]

Is education compulsory? Well, while all gotta get educated somehow, the guidlines about how are pretty loose.

At which age does compulsory education start? It may vary, although most popular age is 6-7
At which age does compulsory education end? Usually at 17

Is homeschooling legal? Yep. Cuz not everyone wanna get social.

How do schools deal with students who skip class? Oh, it might be a warning, several not-so-kind and stern words, maybe lower grades. School might expell too frequent offender.

Is truancy a crime? For whom, students or parents? Oh, come on! That's between school and student. State has business only of parents won't let their kids study at all.

Are there truant officers (officials who catch truant students and bring them back to school)?
Nope.

Has truancy been a big problem in your nation?
Sure, some may be slightly less competent because of that, but this is a problem of least damage and concern. (Not a problem)

[Thermodolia]

Is education compulsory? Yes
At which age does compulsory education start? Depends on the province but most start education at age 6. Starting age can be anywhere between 5-7.
At which age does compulsory education end? Again depends on the province but most end education at age 18. Ending ages can range from 16-18. Exemptions are given to those who opt to join the military at age 17.
Is homeschooling legal? No. homeschooling is illegal in all of Thermodolia except in the Traditional Republic of Fêthænthdóla. Diplomats are exempt from this however.
How do schools deal with students who skip class? Detention, missed graduations, loss of school privileges, and loss of vacation days to make up lost school time are a few ways schools deal with truancy.
Is truancy a crime? For whom, students or parents? Truancy is a crime in only 25 provinces. And in all of those provinces but one truancy is only a misdemeanor offense punishable by a fine between T 50 and T 100. In the remaining province in which truancy is a crime, it is considered to be a felony punishable by up to three years in jail.

Of those 24 which consider truancy to be a misdemeanor half punish the parents, 6 punish the students, and the remaining 6 punish either the parents, students, or both depending on the circumstances.

In the province which considers truancy to be a felony they punish the parents if the student committing the offense is under the age of 13 and punish the student if they are 13 and older.
Are there truant officers (officials who catch truant students and bring them back to school)? 40 provinces, including the 25 who view it as a crime, have truant officers. The rest of the provinces do not
Has truancy been a big problem in your nation? No. Only some 11,324 students were classified as truants in the last school year.

[Victorious Decepticons]

Decepticons, as you can guess, don't do education in the human way. There are no *shudders* YEARS needed or used on getting an education. What would be considered K-12 information is encoded into the Standard Educational Data Pack, which is a massive executable file that takes 10 minutes to install. This installation is mandatory, and happens before a newly-built Decepticon is first activated. No more is usually required, though everyone is strongly encouraged to update their SEDP on a regular basis to keep up with new basic discoveries, additions to the History Module (as time goes on, more and more things qualify as "history" and the Module is updated accordingly).

If there is a huge new development in one of the sciences, there may be a mandatory update. The same goes for major changes to the Minimum Design Specification of the Decepticon Body or the corresponding requirements for Code Intended to be Sapient (the base code that will mature into a fully-sapient adult Decepticon over time).

The SEDP is government-funded, so there's no out-of-pocket cost.


Is education compulsory? Yes
At which age does compulsory education start? Just prior to the newly-built Decepticon's activation
At which age does compulsory education end? 10 minutes later, after the Standard Educational Data Pack (SEDP) finishes installing itself.
Is homeschooling legal? No and Yes. ALL Decepticons must get their SEDP. Coders may provide additional education on their own.
How do schools deal with students who skip class? There aren't any classes.
Is truancy a crime? We fully support youngsters who avoid the long-winded, horrible warehouse environment that is the typical biological school - and, we are glad that WE don't need to attend any such things in order to get a full education!

That said, it is a crime to activate a new Decepticon without first installing a fresh new copy of the Standard Educational Data Pack into his memory banks.

For whom, students or parents? Since new Decepticons get their SEDPs prior to activation, they are not physically able to avoid the installation. Therefore, only Coders (parents) are capable of responsibility for the lack of said installation, and they are punished severely.

Are there truant officers (officials who catch truant students and bring them back to school)? Of course not. Domestic Intelligence notes all new activations, and correlates them with the mandated visit to the local Debugging Center that should have happened before they were detected. At the Debugging Center, a new-built's Code is checked to ensure that it is error-free, any errors detected are fixed, and since the new-built is already there for that, that's where and when he gets his SEDP. No visit = no SEDP (and also, no mandatory code-check has been performed).

Has truancy been a big problem in your nation? No. Only Coders who are going to try to teach their kid some off-the-books garbage instead of the official curriculum, or who have hardcoded illegal traits into their offspring, will avoid taking their new-built to the Debugging Center for his SEDP and pre-activation checks. There are very few who want their offspring to be messed up right from the start (and those that do are typically full of glitches themselves, though there is the occasional full-on traitor that gets caught for this).

[Luziyca]

Is education compulsory? Yes
At which age does compulsory education start? 5 or 6 years old, when students start Kugamuchira
At which age does compulsory education end? 14 or 15 years old, when students finish Chechitatu Fomu
Is homeschooling legal? Yes
How do schools deal with students who skip class? Internal disciplinary action, from detention to expulsion.
Is truancy a crime? For whom, students or parents? In theory, it is a crime for parents whose students are under the age of 8, while if students are aged 8 or older, it is a crime for the students. The crime is punishable by a fine.
Are there truant officers (officials who catch truant students and bring them back to school)? Only certain private schools and international schools have them, as they are able to afford the cost of hiring them.
Has truancy been a big problem in your nation? Unfortunately, yes, especially in rural areas and among the poor as child labour remains incredibly common in the Kingdom of Rwizikuru. Statistics are hard to come by, but it is said that around a third to three-quarters of the student population has skipped school at some point during their educational careers, mostly to help their parents earn money.

[National Yorkshire]

Is education compulsory? Yes
At which age does compulsory education start? 4 or 5 years old, when students start the introductory year of Primary School.
At which age does compulsory education end? 15 or 16 years old, when students finish the 5th year of secondary school and the 11th year of school overall.
Is homeschooling legal? Yes
How do schools deal with students who skip class? Vary depending on school. Potential sanctions include warnings, detention, internal and external suspension, sometimes expulsion for repeat offenders.
Is truancy a crime? For whom, students or parents? It is a crime for parents and technically students aged 10 or over. It is punishable by fines and/or up to 3 months imprisonment.
Are there truant officers (officials who catch truant students and bring them back to school)? No. Truants are dealt with by the school and occasionally by the normal police.
Has truancy been a big problem in your nation? Not particularly. Yorkshire is a developed nation and as a result most children regularly attend school. Truants are also dealt with harshly.

[Tinhampton]

Is education compulsory? Yes.
At which age does compulsory education start? In the school year where the child is four years old as of September 1st.
At which age does compulsory education end? In the school year where the child is eighteen years old as of September 1st - hence why what you lot on RealWorldStates would call "12th Grade" (USA) or "Year 13" (England) is therefore "Grade 14" to us Tinhamptonians.
Is homeschooling legal? Also yes.
How do schools deal with students who skip class? They don't, perhaps beyond informal meetings. The onus of education is on parents, see below. The government itself can fine or close down schools where more than 4% of the student body actively engages in continued absence (see below,) although there has only ever been one fine of about $10,000 in the past 56 years.
Is truancy a crime? No. Unauthorised absence is grounds for a civil suit for parents/carers, unless If attendance levels fall below 90% "over a prolonged period of time and with no apparent reason" - defined in the Education Act 1963, as copiously amended, to be Continued Absence - in which case a criminal suit may be brought. The pupil that is absent must be dealt with by the school "appropriately" (as conveniently undefined in law). Facilitating unauthorised absence can result in up to a $5,000 fine.
Are there truant officers (officials who catch truant students and bring them back to school)? No, but police officers (and, if needs be, regular teachers) are empowered "to return students engaging in an incident of unauthorised absence from an educational establishment, up to Grade 14 education, back to that establishment" (section 14 of the Education Act 1971).
Has truancy been a big problem in your nation? Not on an organised scale (and, when organised, never for more than a couple of school days). The "People's Protest" of 1993 (a walkout involving 2,000 students, one in five Tinhamptonians aged under 18 and many more adults, in a row about the removal of the Arts Choice as a mandatory subject in the Tinhamptonian Baccalaureate) and the Climate Strikes, which attracted 400 in March and 1,500 last month, are two important corollaries.

[TURTLESHROOM II]

Is education compulsory? Yes.

At which age does compulsory education start? In kindergarten, usually at the age of six or seven.

At which age does compulsory education end?

For humans, eighteen. For turtles and mushrooms, eighteen (the base age of majority for turtles and mushrooms is set at sexual maturity, which is usually four or five years, but mental development). Child labor is legal for any occupation that is not physically demanding, does not involve heavy machinary, or carries risks of life and limb. Parents who choose child labor must send their children to a school every Monday, or homeschool them. If they turn eighteen and are illiterate, the parents can be prosecuted.

Is homeschooling legal? Yes, without restrictions beyond basic testing for competency and literacy upon graduation.

How do schools deal with students who skip class?

All TurtleShroomian schools are privatized and their tuition is covered by the state. Each schoolhouse, school board, or institution overseeing some entity of private education decides their own punishment.

Traditionally, the most common punishment is paddling, which is performed by school administrators in private before two witnesses. However, the rise of Asian influence and custom has begun to win over TurtleShroomers in terms of the enlightened practice of caning, which was actually the preferred method of academic corporal punishment in TurtleShroom until the twentieth century. As with paddling, caning is done in private, by administrators, and in the presence of two witnesses.

Most private schools allowing disabled people follow the reccomended guidelines that retards, cripples, and other creatures with physical and mental illnesses or disabilities cannot receive corporal punishment. For these and as an alternative to corporal punishment, things such as in-school suspension, out-of-school suspension, expulsion, and detention are other forms of punishment.

Is truancy a crime? For whom, students or parents?

Yes. Criminal liability depends on the age of the student, the encouragement of the parents or lack thereof, and the circumstances in which truancy was performed. For younger offspring, the parent is held liable. For adolescents and non-humans deemed to have reached mental maturity, the ne'er-do-well is responsible.

In addition, severely mentally ill individuals, retards, and others with mental impairment, if they go to a normal, private schoolhouse, cannot be held responsible for truancy. The parents are always punished in their stead. Most private schools refuse those with mental disabilities, so the State Hospital Service (TS' mental health system) operates as the "schoolhouse of last resort" for those who can go nowhere else.

Customarily, truancy in its criminal context is punished by forcible (and often painful) apprehension and delivery to the schoolhouse, where the schoolhouse or academic governing body will punish the student according to their whims and rules. The parents are fined. Continued truancy is punished by judicial caning of the student alongside paddling (which is vastly more painful) and, if neccesary for further attempts, judicial corporal punishment for the enabling parents. The parents continue to be fined. If they cannot pay the increasing fines, they can be imprisoned and the student will be caned again to make up the cost.

The final resort against an older student who simply refuses their education entirely, despite all desparate attempts, is sent to what are colliqually known as the "Salt Mines", a slang reference to tears and internal embitterment. There are no mines or salt. These camps are run by the military or contracted to military academies. Students enjoy such "character building exercises" as physical exercise and weightlifting, hard labor, maintenance of military equipment, peeling potatoes, breaking large rocks into smaller rocks, digging holes and filling them back up, marches, getting yelled at, and drills. Unlike the ROTC or other military institution for youth, it's less compassionate, less beneficial at anything beyond pure fear, and understanding of the shortcomings of youth and far more like an actual boot camp. If you can get out of the "Salt Mines" without being reformed, you are probably a future serial killer and/or sociopath. Although the state has never confirmed or denied it it, rumors have always swirled that uppity, problem children who get out of the "Salt Mines" and go right out to commit more misdeeds are put on a mental health watchlist and monitored.

Are there truant officers (officials who catch truant students and bring them back to school)?

Yes, if the given schoolhouse or academic governing body chooses to contract out to a private police form. They can also use the TurtleShroomian Inquisition or Parishonal police forces for truancy prevention. If they use Parish or imperial resources, they must be compensated for their time.

In very small schoolhouses and the most remote areas, Parent-Teacher Association representives or even teachers themselves usually apply to the Inquisition to request an Academic Deputization and enforce truancy laws on their own. Deputized truancy agents are distinguished from actual Inquisitors in that they were pale, darker green capirotes and robes instead of the official red.

Has truancy been a big problem in your nation?

Not at all. Many young TurtleShroomers dare to play hooky in their youth, and tend to learn that they'll be whooped by the schoolhouse and their parents at home. For this reason, repeated, constant truancy is seen as spectacular in its rarity. It turns out that people don't like corporal punishment and boot camp. Go figure!

Organized walk-out truancy and "strikes" by students are punished even harsher. However, because it is against TurtleShroomian law for the police to use force, inflict pain, or deploy billy clubs on a striking or uppity adolescent unless they are an active and violent threat (or are deliberately obstructing commerce and refuse to follow warnings), the so-called "beatings" don't come until they are apprehended and delivered back to the authorities safely.

TurtleShroomian law prohibits all use of physical against a pre-pubescent human by the police unless the child is activelly attempting to take the life of someone, as well as turtles and mushrooms under a certain size or rank of mental maturity, unless they are actively attempting to kill someone.

The idea of the parents of children and teenagers organizing a truancy "strike" is seen as so absurd in TurtleShroom that only the police force has a contigency plan if it happens.

[Arthropol]

Is education compulsory? Yes, with little exceptions

At which age does compulsory education start? A child must have begun pre-school by age 4.

At which age does compulsory education end? As the age of majority in Arthropol is 16*, students over 16 cannot legally be forced to register for school. However, the vast majority of students attend school until approximately age 18.

Is homeschooling legal? Yes, but with extremely strict requirements which must be closely followed.

How do schools deal with students who skip class? Depends on the school, most schools have small penalties like detentions.

Is truancy a crime? For whom, students or parents? Truancy is punishable by a small fine for students who are registered to attend school aged 16+, with the approval of teachers and headmasters. Purposefully preventing another person from getting an education on any level is a crime, punishable with fines to jail sentences.

Are there truant officers (officials who catch truant students and bring them back to school)? Typically not.

Has truancy been a big problem in your nation? No.

*Although the age of majority is legally 16, it is still 18 in some other aspects, and is a complicated part of Arthropolian law.

[Alisonia-]

Is education compulsory? Primary education is encouraged, secondary education is voluntary, neither is compulsory under the law.
At which age does compulsory education start? At the discretion of the polity in which one lives, the national average is seven.
At which age does compulsory education end? Fourteen.
Is homeschooling legal? Yes.
How do schools deal with students who skip class?
Is truancy a crime? For whom, students or parents? No, it is not.
Are there truant officers (officials who catch truant students and bring them back to school)? No.
Has truancy been a big problem in your nation? No.

[Synne Industries]

Is education compulsory?: No, but encouraged for those seeking a survivable future
At which age does compulsory education start?: Though most schooling is privatized the mean start is around the age of 3
At which age does compulsory education end?: Mean of 17.
Is homeschooling legal?: Yes, though not actively encouraged.
How do schools deal with students who skip class?: Not much, but good luck getting a job if you frequently skip.
Is truancy a crime? For whom, students or parents?: No, not for anyone.
Are there truant officers (officials who catch truant students and bring them back to school)?: No
Has truancy been a big problem in your nation?: Never has been since the late 90s

[Strahcoin]

Is education compulsory? No, but it is encouraged.
At which age does compulsory education start?
At which age does compulsory education end?
Is homeschooling legal? Of course!
How do schools deal with students who skip class? Depends on the school, but most of them just notify the parents (and the teachers may send the school material that the student has missed as a result of skipping class).
Is truancy a crime? For whom, students or parents? No.
Are there truant officers (officials who catch truant students and bring them back to school)? No.
Has truancy been a big problem in your nation? Nope.
Other Information: Education is private and a privilege (although most, if not all, Strahconians can easily afford it). Curriculums are determined by the schools, not the government (although there are some basic requirements).

[Wochaystein]

Education and science are central institutions in Wochaystein and people are encouraged to pursue them. For some people, their decision can help determine his future direction, but many others, especially the elderly, lack education yet continue to hold a certain status. Many of the elders of Wochaystein were never educated; in rural towns, many of the citizens in their 80s or older were uneducated.

In lieu of public education, homeschooling is legal as long as the "teachers" are the child's parents or legal custodians. Note: parents or legal custodians of a child have to be at least 16 years old to be able to facilitate homeschooling.

On the topic of truancy, it can be a tricky subject. "The situation is not that simple," says Blanchard Spreitzer, Wochaystein's Minister of Education. "There are too many layers, too many difficulties."

Some schools put truant students through the "second chance" method. Students who fail to meet the requirements can be removed from the program if they repeat the offense with sufficient gravity. However, in most cases, they are referred to a summer school or summer job for high school dropouts and others who may need some additional educational help, rather than leaving them in limbo in the public system. They try to avoid them in limbo as much as possible because truancy is considered a crime where parents can get cited for neglect of their child's upbringing. In practice, this is not strictly enforced as no truancy officers exist and the police have more pressing priorities.

[Great Nortend]

Is education compulsory? Provision of an education has been compulsory for boys since the Schooling Act of 1902, and for girls since the Schooling Act of 1945. The same act also extended compulsory schooling for boys.
At which age does compulsory education start? Compulsory education begins at the age of six.
At which age does compulsory education end? Compulsory education ends at the age of fourteen, which roughly corresponds to the end of Third Form.
Is homeschooling legal? Yes, although it is mostly restricted to the upper class, wherein tutoring up to the age of around eleven or twelve, and sometimes even thereafter for girls, is very common. Tutors and governesses are required to be qualified.
How do schools deal with students who skip class? Disciplinary measures include detention, caning, suspension and expulsion.
Is truancy a crime? For whom, students or parents? It is not a specific crime. However, it may be prosecutable under contempt of the Crown.
Are there truant officers (officials who catch truant students and bring them back to school)? No. School officers and masters, acting in loco parentis may in some cases be called to retrieve pupils, especially at independent schools; however, there is no “truancy officer” profession. Policemen may also return pupils under their powers of compulsion.
Has truancy been a big problem in your nation? In some areas truancy is somewhat common; however, generally truancy is not considered a big problem.

[Islaevia]

Is education compulsory? Yes. It's also free from ages 0 to 16.
At which age does compulsory education start? 6
At which age does compulsory education end? 16
Is homeschooling legal? No. Children are expected to attend a state school or one of the few private ones. Children with special needs must go to special institutions that combine education and care.
How do schools deal with students who skip class? Internal punishment, as the school sees fit. Generally, it includes lower grades. Serious offenders are registered with the authorities so that they can later be denied a job in the public sector, which employs most Islaevians. For ages 16-18, attendance is not compulsory, but considering that students are closely monitored by state enterprises for new employees, truancy is not a good idea.
Is truancy a crime? For whom, students or parents? Truancy is a crime for parents in primary education (punished with a fine). The responsability shifts to the student in secondary education, and if caught they will face short-term (<24 h) detention and a fine if reincident. Repeated reincidency will land the responsible, parent or student, in jail (specialized if need be).
Are there truant officers (officials who catch truant students and bring them back to school)? Not specifically, but if the all-pervasive security forces caught you skipping class, it's not going to be a nice experience.
Has truancy been a big problem in your nation? Not really, considering that it can severely affect a students' future and punishments are relatively severe.

[Greater Zatabia]

Is education compulsory?
Absolutely, 98% of all citizens are kept in State Work and Education Camps during their formative years. The remaining 2% have compulsory education at The Kakospire, with a curriculum more befitting their birth. Slaves are not counted as citizens, and do not require the same education.

At which age does compulsory education start?
0 years of age, after being separated from their parents at birth.

At which age does compulsory education end?
16 years of age, when each citizen is assigned their life occupations. 90% of males are assigned to the military for at least 6 years. 90% of females are assigned to birthing duty for at least 6 years. The remaining 20% are assigned directly to the workforce.

Is homeschooling legal?
Definitely not. Children never even meet their parents.

How do schools deal with students who skip class?
The punishment is an extreme corporal demonstration in front of the entire camp. Torture is expected, and is part of the Future Human Resource Re-Education policy.

Is truancy a crime? For whom, students or parents?
Truancy is a crime, though is not judged by a religious official like most crimes. Parents play no role in their children’s lives, so only the children in question are brutally punished.

Are there truant officers (officials who catch truant students and bring them back to school)?
Each camp has an armed guard force that captures runaway students by force. They are also there to make students with overly subversive thoughts “disappear”.

Has truancy been a big problem in your nation?
Not really. Apparently torture and/or death at the hands of a state that brainwashed you from birth isn’t something many people consider a viable risk in order to escape servitude.

So, yeah. Fun stuff all around.

[Cameroi]

Is education compulsory?
no. but its not that simple.
parents are punished for denying educational opportunities.
and public eduction is free, of high quality, generally unrestricted, and lots of fun.

At which age does ######## education start?
3
At which age does ######### education end?
graduation from lower school at age 12,
followed by a two year inter-education sabatical
followed by five or more years of upper school typically.

Is homeschooling legal?
only under circumstances of extreme remoteness, or if the child is of a species that interaction with their peers is likely to be hazardous to them.

How do schools deal with students who skip class?
generally ignoring them if that's what they want to do.
and welcoming them back if they can resume participation without being disruptive.

Is truancy a crime? For whom, students or parents?
well again, if a parent prevents their children from seeking a public education, they are committing a serious felony

Are there truant officers (officials who catch truant students and bring them back to school)?
not specifically, no. as with many things, every community handles this each in their own way.

Has truancy been a big problem in your nation?
no. it isn't and it hasn't.

one reason is carriculum. our public schools are there to answer curiousity and the quest for knowledge,
not to enforce a particular cultural, ideological or religious perspective.

our teachers are more like tutors and our schools in many ways more like libraries then classrooms.
our core carriculum is s.t.e.m. plus arts. the tools of creatively expressing imagination are taught and encouraged.
there is no nationalistic history or anything else involving bias of perspective.
even sports and physical exercize are not required subjects, though things like how to hike without scaring away other life forms,
are options available to the individual student.

our schools are like the kind of play, that no child with a curious, logical and imaginative mind would want to miss out on.
not that it is completely undiciplined or unguided, but we beleive what the child is most curious about,
is what is most likely to be useful and serve them best in adult life.

there is very little a child would skip school for,
that cannot be gratified among their offerings

[Arachkya]

Is education compulsory?Yes.
At which age does compulsory education start? 5.
At which age does compulsory education end? 18.
Is homeschooling legal? No.
How do schools deal with students who skip class? 1 year of hard labor in a mining camp.
Is truancy a crime? For whom, students or parents? Yes, Both.
Are there truant officers (officials who catch truant students and bring them back to school)? Yes.
Has truancy been a big problem in your nation? No.

[The Macaronesia]

In the Macaronesia, Education is compulsory from 6 to 14 years old, but there is a bill to lower the start age to 4 and to increase the end age to 16. The change is largely expected amongst teachers and some parents associations, but there are some reticences in some sectors about the impact in young employment, salaries and public budget.

Homeschooling is legal, but it must be provided by a teacher -of course, if the father or the mother is a teacher, he or she can homeschool their children. However, as attendance cannot be controlled, homeschooled children must take an exam at the end of the scholar course. If the student fails the exam, he isn't elegible for homeschooling for the following school year.

Students who skip class are a legal threaten to schools. While students are in scholar hours they are supossed to be at the classroom, and for that reason teachers take attendance and register it, but justice usually blames schools for no-attending students, instead of parents, based on the current Education law that provides 'schools shall design their studies in order to ensure the attendance and success of students'. The comsequence is that schools have been keeping a register of no-attending students to refuse their enrollment, but this measure has been branded of inconstitutional. The PM has promised to revise this matter in the following Education law.

Truancy is not a crime, but it is penalized if a student gets injuried when skipped class. As we told, the justice is blaming the schools and forcing them to indemnify the students or the families.

Some parties have proposed to provide a kind of truant officers in the next Education law, but there is a high controverse around the subject.

Truancy does not have been a big problem in our country until some years ago, when scavenger lawyers began to seek the edges of the law and found a way to accuse the schools. Now it is a big problem in schools and threaten to be a big social problem if students get used to miss their duties.

[Nanna-Suen]

Education, at least as it historically manifested with the various civilisations and cultures on Terra-1, has been rendered obsolete, as the Suenites are able to freely access the collective consciousness thanks to the interconnectedness granted by the several neural implants hosted by the physical mainframes of each individual. In this context, the collective consciousness refers to a seemingly unlimited well of knowledge which acts as a cyberspatially housed archive of events, individuals and other miscellaneous subjects.

[The Skrall]

Is education compulsory?
Education is not compulsory on the national level, however, some cities do require it. These laws greatly vary, with some cities only requiring the teaching of literacy & life skills, while others require more things like history, mathematics, culture, and science. This is because most schools are built in the cities; most rural towns do not have any. Rural parents can choose to send their children to schools in cities, but cannot use the public schools there and thus must pay for their children to go to privately-run schools.
Is homeschooling legal?
It is legal and frequently done by rural parents who cannot pay for the private schools.
How do schools deal with students who skip class?
Corporal punishment and/or being forcibly brought to the class.
Is truancy a crime? For whom, students or parents?
It is a crime for the students, unless the parents prevent them from going. (In that case, the student isn't punished, the parents are.) This only applies to the public schools, it isn't a crime in the private schools.
Are there truant officers (officials who catch truant students and bring them back to school)?
There are no dedicated officials, however, the police will do it if there are no matters of greater importance for them to attend to.
Has truancy been a big problem in your nation?
It is not a major problem in the nation.

[Mexico Santos]

Is education compulsory? Yes
At which age does compulsory education start? 6
At which age does compulsory education end? 18 unless the students go into vocational or military training instead of school in which case 16.
Is homeschooling legal?: yes but most be registered with the school board.
How do schools deal with students who skip class?: detentions
Is truancy a crime? For whom, students or parents? It is a crime for parents to allow truancy.
Are there truant officers (officials who catch truant students and bring them back to school)?: in cities yes, in rural areas the local police or occasionally the church do this.
Has truancy been a big problem in your nation?: yes.

[Vallermoore]

Is education compulsory? Yes
At which age does compulsory education start? 6
At which age does compulsory education end? 17
Is homeschooling legal? Yes
How do schools deal with students who skip class? Two swipes of the cane (unless the person was ill or there was another acceptable excuse.)
Is truancy a crime? For whom, students or parents? Yes, for students unless it was totally the parent';s fault, in which case the parents are fined (and given a choice of caning (6 swipes) or jail time (one week) if they can't or won't pay.
Are there truant officers (officials who catch truant students and bring them back to school)? Yes,and they are uniformed and have handcuffs and (for emergency use only) a baton.
Has truancy been a big problem in your nation? Not really, we try and make lessons fun.