School Absenteeism is an educational and social problem that affects a large number of students. All types of school absence, whether irregular or chronic, have serious consequences on the educational process of children. In this sense, and from the perspective of Inclusive Education, it is particularly important to respond to the needs of these students. Furthermore, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals, one of the targets set out in Goal 4 on Quality Education establishes that all girls and boys should complete primary and secondary education. With this aim in mind, every education system must guarantee quality basic education and training that favours the integral development of all people. However, it is worrying that a sector of the school population refuses to attend school and, in many of these cases, is absent from classes with the repercussions that this entails. The phenomenon of truancy can affect any student at any stage of their schooling, with students from social groups with unfavourable socio-economic backgrounds, family problems, etc. being at greater risk. However, there are few national and international studies, reports and statistics that make it possible to identify the risk factors that can cause truancy beyond the individual characteristics of the students concerned. At present, research on truancy needs to broaden its scope and consider both individual factors that condition school refusal and the immediate context of the subject, i.e. their individual characteristics and relationships with peers, teachers, family, as well as distal factors, considering the impact of culture, political measures and the socio-cultural context in which students develop. This symposium aims to provide a compilation of research on truancy, highlighting the need for an international observatory on school attendance. The symposium is composed of four papers which aim to shed light on the role of educational and psychological variables in school refusal. One of the papers presents the creation of the SOS-Attendance Observatory, the result of an Erasmus+ project financed with European funds and involving twelve institutions from four different countries: Spain, Belgium, Italy and Turkey. Another paper presents the results obtained with Italian adolescents in which the aim is to investigate the influence of perceived teacher psychological control on the risk of developing school refusal and school alienation. On the other hand, results obtained with Spanish children are also presented, in which the relationship between four reasons for school refusal and different personality traits is analysed. Finally, the last paper presents a proposal on how to reduce school rejection and improve school climate through art in primary education. The papers presented at this symposium will provide information on how different school and psychological variables affect school refusal, and will also serve to present the SOS-Attendance Observatory, a centre that aims to become a reference resource in the study, training and awareness of school absenteeism. In order to ensure that all students complete their basic education studies, it is hoped that the findings shared at this symposium will serve to establish challenges and lines of action to prevent and address school attendance problems.
