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Germany Detains Hundreds of Students for Skipping School in 2023

From Lower Saxony to Bremen, detention for truancy is rising—but is it justice or a system failing its youth? Critics demand reform.

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1 min read
In the picture we can see some school children are standing on the path with school uniforms and...
In the picture we can see some school children are standing on the path with school uniforms and they are holding some papers in their hands and one girl is talking something near the microphone which is to the stand and behind them we can see a fencing wall and to the top of it we can see a shed with some balloons top it.

Hundreds of School Skippers in Detention by 2025 - Germany Detains Hundreds of Students for Skipping School in 2023

Hundreds of young people across Germany have been detained this year for skipping school. The figures vary widely between states, with some recording dozens of cases while others do not track the data at all. Education unions have strongly criticised the practice, calling it a sign of deeper problems in the system.

In the first half of 2023, Lower Saxony and Bremen detained 241 boys and 114 girls for habitual truancy. Hesse reported 48 similar cases by October, while other states either recorded lower numbers or did not monitor the data. The measure is used as a last resort before a youth custodial sentence, applied under strict conditions and limited in duration.

The Education and Science Workers’ Union (GEW) has condemned the policy. GEW chair Anja Bensinger-Stolze described it as 'an admission of failure' in education policy and pedagogy. However, Lower Saxony’s Ministry of Justice defended the approach, stating that detention remains 'a fundamentally suitable means of influencing young people'. No German state has documented cases of children being taken into custody specifically for falsifying school attendance records.

Detention for truancy remains a controversial but legally permitted measure in Germany. The practice continues to be applied in some regions, though critics argue it reflects broader shortcomings in supporting at-risk students. Officials maintain it is used only when other interventions have failed.

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