In recent years, there has been an increasing trend of imposing fines on parents of truants in Germany. The number of fine cases in North Rhine-Westphalia, for example, rose to 8,076 in the past year, representing an almost eight percent increase compared to the previous year. When compared to the year 2020, the growth is even more significant, with a 45 percent increase in the number of cases (5,573).
In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, a total of 372 fine cases were carried out in the previous school year, marking a 21 percent increase. In Hamburg, there were 1,736 fine cases in 2024, up from 1,641 the previous year.
According to the Hessian Ministry of Education, there were nearly 5,000 cases of administrative offenses in the past year. Munich stands out among the larger cities, as the newspaper reports. In the Bavarian state capital, there were 2,766 cases of truancy in the previous year, 15 percent more than in 2023 (2,403 cases). These figures demonstrate the growing concern and efforts being made by the authorities to address the issue of truancy among students.