During the 2009 influenza A(H1N1) epidemic, a partnership was established between the Indian Ocean Regional Health Agency (CIRE) and the Réunion Regional Education Authority to obtain weekly school absenteeism rates calculated across all schools on the island. This indicator helped monitor the epidemic’s impact on the population, and its systematic collection throughout the epidemic demonstrated the feasibility of such surveillance.

This experience raised questions about the relevance of a sustainable health surveillance system based on monitoring school absenteeism. To assess this relevance, a pilot project for monitoring school absenteeism was designed, based on the model used during the influenza pandemic, using a sample of schools that volunteered to report their daily absenteeism rates. The first stage of the project’s pilot phase was implemented from April 19 to July 2, 2010. The second stage of the pilot phase ran from April 4, 2011, to July 1, 2011, and then from October 17, 2011, until the end of the school year in July 2012. At the conclusion of the pilot phase, the relevance of this monitoring system will be evaluated, and a decision will be made regarding its continuation or even its expansion.