Chief Schools Welfare Officer (CSWO) Ms. Banmattie Ram has reported that the Schools’ Welfare Service has apprehended a whopping 1,507 truants in 92 campaigns conducted throughout the country between April and July last.

Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle, Ram disclosed that 56 of the truants never attended school and her department was able to place 51 of the lot in the school system.

During the April to July campaigns, the highest number of truants were rounded-up in Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne) and Georgetown.

According to a report, 512 truants were taken off the streets in Region Six in nine campaigns and 368 from Georgetown in 35.

The report also stated that 166 truants were apprehended in Region Four (Demerara/Mahaica), 116 in Region Three (West Demerara/ Essequibo Islands), 111 in Region One (Barima/Waini) and 90 in Region Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam).

The lowest number of school aged loiterers were in Region Nine (Upper Takutu/Upper Essequibo) with 17, Regions 10 (Upper Demerara/Berbice), Five (Mahaica/Berbice) and Seven (Cuyuni/Mazaruni) recorded 26, 50, and 51 truants respectively.

Notably, Ram pointed out, 32 of the 56 truants who never attended school were from Region Three. The Schools’ Welfare Department was able to place 27 of these students in school and is working to do the same with the remaining five, she said.

She noted that the eight campaigns conducted in Region Three targeted the Zeelugt/ Greenwich Park areas. Ten of the 32 truants who never attended school were from these locales.

“It should be noted that these children are mostly from parents who are into fishing as an occupation,” Ram said.

She explained that when a truant is apprehended, his parents are informed by way of letter and on occasion, if deemed necessary, both the truant and the parents are counselled.

The Schools’ Welfare Department also sends verification letters to headteachers to report on student’s attendance and difficult circumstance cases are reported to the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security.

Regular follow-up visits are made to the schools and homes of the truants as well as collaboration with the Regional Education Department in the issuance of letters for admission and re-admission.

In addition, the Schools’ Welfare Department facilitates the transfer of students who travel long distances to a school nearer to their home, assists parents to apply for birth certificates and works with non-governmental organisations to assist needy children.

The campaigns were conducted through a multi-sectoral approach involving stakeholders including the Police, members of Parent Teachers Associations, Justices of the Peace, community leaders, health workers, business persons, Help and Shelter personnel and other social workers.

But Ram said some of the campaigns in Regions Two, Four and Nine were seriously affected by lack of transportation and had to be cancelled.

She also pointed out that Region Nine had one Schools Welfare Officer (SWO) and this was a constraint in the execution of campaigns there. No truancy exercise was conducted in Region Eight (Potaro/Siparuni) as there was no SWO there.

Ram underlined that based on reports from her officers, financial constraints were the main cause for the truancy.

“Some parents were deliberately keeping their children at home to assist with household chores, baby-sitting, marketing on Friday and running errands,” the CSWO also said.

She said too that the high transportation cost in riverine areas is the chief cause of truancy there.

Ram underscored that the non-preparation of work for students who sat the National Grade Six Assessments (NGSA), the unpunctuality of students, especially in Georgetown who wait for their favourite buses and arrive late at school, and the decision by some parents to keep their children at home because they did not register them for a birth certificate were the other major causes for truancy

In an effort to curtail the problem, the CSWO is calling on the Ministry of Education to provide a hot meal for needy students in Regions Four, Five, Six and Ten.

“This would improve the attendance of children tremendously, bearing in mind that a number of children in these regions stay at home because their parents cannot afford to provide them with lunch,” Ram said.

Apart from this, she recommends that each SWO work with three schools in their region that have a poor attendance rate and the Ministry of Local Government assist with the transportation costs or provide means of transportation for students in Regions One, Three and Seven.