June in Polish schools is looking increasingly empty. Students are abandoning the final weeks of school en masse because, for example, parents are deciding to take their holidays earlier.
– Based on data from secondary schools, I can report that student attendance really does fall in June – says Katarzyna Zięba, head of the education department at the district office. – Although national media often point to families taking earlier holidays using cheaper off-season offers, schools in Bolesławiec do not identify this factor as the main cause of absenteeism. Their observations indicate that organizational issues related to the end of the school year, vocational examinations and the nature of vocational education have a greater impact on attendance – the department head adds.
Average attendance in June at the schools analyzed was 70.75 percent (as of the period from June 1 to 15). This is slightly lower than in previous months of the school year, but the scale of the decline does not differ from that observed in previous years and does not indicate an extraordinary increase in student absenteeism.
Information provided by secondary schools indicates that the main causes of the decline in attendance are:
- the organization of vocational examinations in the first half of June,
- days off from teaching and educational activities related to examinations,
- teachers’ involvement in examination boards, which affects the organization of classes,
- students’ preparation for vocational examinations,
- some students at technical and vocational schools taking seasonal or permanent jobs before the holidays,
- long-term absences of some students resulting from health problems or other individual circumstances
What is the situation in Bolesławiec’s primary schools?
Małgorzata Wicha, head of the city’s education department, did not have information about attendance at the schools under her authority and suggested contacting the institutions’ female principals directly.
– As every year, our school has seen a noticeable but slight decline in attendance in grades 1–7, caused, for example, by students leaving for their holidays – reported Marta Łagowska, principal of Primary School No. 3. – A much greater decline in attendance in June is visible in the eighth grades. As of today (June 17 – editor’s note), attendance in June is on average 19 percentage points lower than the average attendance in the September–May period – the principal reports.
The situation is similar at Primary School No. 4 in grades 4–8, according to principal Maria Subik. At the school she heads, attendance is lowest in January. June is only the second month in which attendance declines.
– At Primary School No. 5 named after Aleksander Janowski in Bolesławiec, we record a slight decline in student attendance in June. In the 2025/26 school year, attendance was 80% – reported Irena Sondaj, the school secretary.
Irena Sikora- Kołodyńska wrote that the average annual attendance as of June 17, 2026, was 82.93%, while average attendance in June (June 1–17) was 84.7%.
– The most common reasons for students’ absences, excused on an ongoing basis by their parents, are mainly illness – added the principal of “Number Two.”
Primary schools are experiencing a typical seasonal decline in attendance in June – particularly in the eighth grades, where it reaches as much as 19 percentage points below the annual average. Average attendance at Bolesławiec’s primary schools ranges from 70% to 85%, and the main reason for absences is illness excused by parents, not holiday trips as suggested by national media.