GUYANA has been recording a relatively good reduction in the number of school dropouts over the last few years. On this note, Minister of Education Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine has called for the implementation of counsellors in schools countrywide to further reduce the number of school dropouts. This statement was made in a recent interview conducted by this publication at the Ministry of Education’s main office, situated at Brickdam. Dr. Roopnaraine boldly indicated that Guyana does not have sufficient trained and motivated social workers, hence the upsurge in school dropouts across the country.
A recent study done by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), reported that alcohol, drug abuse, early and/or unprotected sex, low academic performance, crime, school desertion, delinquency and violence are all “risky behaviours” that gradually pull in the direction of school dropouts.
“Children are going through stages in their development and the movement from one stage from the next can be traumatic, physiological, psychological, dislocations and interruptions that need to be dealt with professionally and that is counselling,” proclaimed Dr. Roopnaraine.
Guyana compared to other countries, preferably the United States of America and its nearby counterparts, has failed to build a foundation of social intervention in its schools. With this in mind, Dr. Roopnaraine stressed that counselling is a vital area in the staffing of schools to garner and mend the difficulties faced by students.
“A troubled child needs somebody who is trained to deal with him. I want to see much more training of our counsellors and much wider distributions of counsellors,” said the minister in his final delivery of the situation.
Although the IDB has recorded a worrying 20% higher school dropout rate than other countries in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) Region, Guyana on the other hand is on the road to improvement as far as school dropouts are concerned.
The Ministry of Education is nevertheless pleased with the consistent decline in the number of students dropping out and is working on the implementation of counsellors in schools across Guyana.