School refusal - seek counselling
Children and young people are required to attend school if they have their place of residence, habitual abode or place of training or work in Baden-Württemberg.
In the case of children and young people who are not yet 18 years old, their legal guardians must ensure that they regularly attend lessons and other compulsory events.
The causes of truancy are often complex constellations of problems such as
- Fear of failure
- Bullying
- Separation from important caregivers
- lack of supervision
- lack of support
Forms and characteristics:
- Low school motivation
- arriving late for lessons
- low willingness to learn
- physical complaints in connection with school
- Conflicts at school
- School resistance
- repeated absences
- Resistance to teachers' expectations
- comprehensive performance problems
- Avoidance of performance situations
- School avoidance, which can range from irregular school attendance to missing individual lessons and days to prolonged absence and total disengagement.
A special form is passive truancy. Although children and young people are present in class from time to time, they do not follow the lessons or only follow them in a rudimentary way.
The aim of counselling is to find the causes and correctly assess the situation in order to be able to organise and provide help and support.
Responsible authority
- The school counsellor
- The school social worker at the school
- The school psychological counselling centre
Contact
Details
Prerequisite
You fear that your child, your pupil or your friend is becoming increasingly disenchanted with school.
Procedure
If you, as a parent or guardian, notice any indications that your child is at risk of missing school, you should contact the class teacher, the school counsellor or the school social worker.
In order to support regular school attendance, you should above all work together with the school in a spirit of trust.
If problems persist, you can also contact the educational or family counselling centre in your town or district in addition to the relevant school psychological counselling centre.
Deadlines
None
Required documents
None
Costs
None
Miscellaneous
Violation of compulsory school attendance can be penalised with a fine.
Compulsory school attendance can also be enforced, for example with a fine. Educational and disciplinary measures can also be taken.
Legal basis
Schulgesetz Baden-Württemberg (SchG):
- § 72 Schulpflicht, Pflichten der Schüler
- § 85 Verantwortlichkeit für die Erfüllung der Schul- und Teilnahmepflicht, Informierung des Jugendamtes, verpflichtendes Elterngespräch
- § 86 Zwangsgeld, Schulzwang
- § 92 Ordnungswidrigkeiten
Release note
machine generated, based on the German release by: Kultusministerium Baden-Württemberg, 11.03.2026