STUDENTS residing in rural areas are at a greater disadvantage as it relates to staying in school and receiving a sound education, according to an Out of School Children (OOSC) Survey which was initiated by the Ministry of Education in partnership with United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF).
According to a release from the Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs, the findings were disclosed on Monday during a one-day seminar conducted at the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD) by a National Consultant and representative of UNICEF. Vice-President and Minister of Indigenous People’s Affairs, Sydney Allicock, Minister of Education Dr Rupert Roopnaraine and other stakeholders attended the event.
According to the survey, schools in Regions 1, 7 & 8 are at a greater disadvantage as compared to the other administrative regions. National Consultant, Cement Henry, also pointed out that “Regions Two, Three, Four & 10 stand out with above national average OOSC prevalence.”
It was noted too that there is a higher OOSC rate among boys as well as higher rates among indigenous persons living in riverain and remote communities. In addition, higher OOSC rates were recorded in regions involved in farming, forestry and mining. A parent taking a decision to wait until the child is older to start school and the distance the child has to travel to get to and from school were among the reasons cited for the OOSC.
The survey indicated that girls have a higher attendance percentage than boys, due to the fact that they remain in school much longer. At the national level, the findings indicate that Region Nine recorded a rate of 74.8% in achieving satisfactory attendance, while Region Two with 37.6% recorded the lowest rate.
The attendance rates for the remaining regions were Region Five (64.3%), Region One (58.5%), Region Seven (55.8%), Region Three (50%) and Region Eight (56%). Region Ten recorded a 47% satisfactory attendance rate followed by Region Four (46.4%) and Region Six (43.3%).
It was also noted that the conditions in poor families significantly contributed to children leaving the school system. UNICEF’s representative, Dr Ingrid Sanchez, in presenting an overview of the project said, “The most important thing of this initiative is this [is] not only data driven, but that data is then linked to very careful policy analysis to better understanding what are the barriers that are keeping some of the children out of the school and how can governments and societies support them, so they can exercise their right to education.”
The Minister of Education in his remarks emphasised the importance of education to the nation, noting that the issue of school drop-outs has been an issue of concern for the ministry.
Minister Allicock noted that the country must be cognizant of the imminent development and nurturing the nation’s young minds is critical to answering that call. Speaking directly to initiatives that positively impact youth 14 years and older, Minister Allicock pointed to the Bina Hill Institute in the Rupununi, which is geared at providing youth in the hinterland, opportunities for higher education.
He said in 2003 the institution started with 43 students on its roster and to date that number has risen to approximately 600. The OOSC initiative is geared at analyzing information gathered and scrutinizes factors that lead to exclusion from schooling and the existing policies that can significantly reduce the national out-of-school rate.