Attendance and Internal
I have a question about the Ministry of Education attendance codes and how they should be applied, Im not sure if this is the right place to post this. However I have been selected to attend a university-run Model UN event in another city after receiving a scholarship. The event is educational as its for debating, and my parents informed the school in advance. My school also has a Model UN extension group and advertises the event, but the event itself is organised and supervised by the university rather than the school. My school however has coded my absence asE (explained but not justified), stating that because the event is not organised, supervised, or risk-assessed by the school, they cannot approve the absence.
I have attended this same Model UN event before, and on that occasion my absence was recorded as justified. I am therefore unsure why it has been coded differently this time.
Under the Ministry of Education attendance guidelines, would this type of absence be more appropriately coded as J (justified) or E (explained but not justified)? Is it up to individual schools to decide, or is there Ministry guidance on how educational opportunities such as university scholarship programmes or Model UN events should be classified when they are not organised by the school?
Sorry, have a good night!