Combating the truancy problem is an imperative because it is the fertile breeding ground for more serious problems such as criminality and drug trafficking and illegal use of drugs-which in today’s world is wreaking havoc in many societies.

Therefore truancy cannot be treated lightly but should be given foremost attention with a view to eradicate or minimise it in our society because its adverse long term effects could be extremely detrimental or even catastrophic.

Here in Guyana truancy has been and still is one of the nagging problems affecting our society and with limited human resources and finances it is a tough task to overcome and those who have the responsibility to oversee this delicate social problem must be commended for their persistent efforts in this regard.

Senior Schools’ Welfare Officer Mrs. Carol Melville has reported that some 386 truants in Georgetown were rounded-up in the first half of this year.

Speaking with this newspaper, Mrs. Melville said the truants were taken off the streets during campaigns carried out by the Schools’ Welfare Department.

She pointed out that the crackdown started in January and five students were apprehended; but the campaign was put on hold in February in light of preparations for Mashramani.

When the scrutiny resumed in March, Melville said some 15 students were rounded-up.

In April, 53 truants were picked up in eight campaigns and a further 56 in a major operation during the same month.

Three of these students, Melville noted, were of primary school age and never attended school, but were awarded placements in remedial classes at the primary level.

And in May, another 82 were found loitering in 12 small operations and 54 in a major crackdown.

On this occasion, eight of the truants, never attended school, and of this number, one was given nursery placement and the remainder in primary.

Interestingly, Melville noted, in June, 123 students were picked-up in a dozen mini-exercises and she explained that this number was due to many students lingering around aimlessly during the annual examination period.

The parents of those apprehended were informed and the children were counselled on the importance of education as well as the importance of being off the street during teaching hours.

Melville underlined that about five students were rounded-up more than once and many were held in the vicinity of the Stabroek Market car park.

These individuals, along with their parents, were counselled and their school attendance records are being monitored by her department as well as by their teachers.

She said also follow-ups were also made on the status of the other truants hauled in during the campaigns, but these were less stringent.

On many occasions, the welfare officer pointed out, parents were unaware of their children’s loitering; and in all instances, they had to sign a ledger on receiving them from her department.

She said extensive focus had to be placed on about 30 students because of their violent behaviour towards their peers, and revealed too that there was one incident where a teacher was assaulted.

Those truants in vulnerable situations, Melville pointed out, were referred to the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security and the Childcare Protection Agency for assistance.

A UNESCO study entitiled:Prevalence and correlates of truancy among adolescents in Swaziland: findings from the Global School-Based Health Survey noted:

“Our study, using a national sample of in-school adolescents in Swaziland, found that the prevalence of truancy was 21.6% (Table 2). We also found that self reported history of truancy was associated with lower school grade, having been victim of bullying, having gone hungry sometimes because of lack of food at home and consumption of alcohol. Adolescents who reported parental supervision most of the times or sometimes were less likely to have been truant compared to those who report no supervision.”

“The association between having gone hungry because of lack of food at home and being truant could be explained in several ways. First, it is possible that adolescents from poor households may miss class because they need an opportunity to fend for themselves. This could be done through begging or scrounging for food. Truant and hungry students may also be involved in piece work to earn some money to purchase food. Finally, the lack of food at home may just be a marker of many other social dysfunctions within the home.”

“We found that adolescents who reported parental supervision and support were less likely to be truant than those who lacked these social supports. A similar finding was reported by Stanton et al who reported that parental support towards adolescents was associated with a protective effect against unhealthy and antisocial behaviours.”

According to the study Vreeman and Caroll] reported a systematic review of the literature in which they assessed the effectiveness of different school-based interventions against bullying. These authors found that interventions which included increasing social workers in schools and promoted mentoring of students were successful in reducing the prevalence of bullying. Also these authors found that interventions were effective in reducing bullying in some settings but not much so in others, possibly suggesting site-specific effects.

The study also pointed out that some of these measures may be putting in place interventions that promote family-friendly schools. The components of family friendly schools may include establishment of parent liaison officer, regular parent-teacher contact, ensuring that parents assist in homework and encouraging parental decisions in school administration With family friendly schools, parents should inform teachers of reasons for adolescents missing school and teachers should inform parents of any absences. There is also need to encourage parental supervision of adolescents.

The underlying causes of truancy may vary from society to society but it is clear that the common denominators include parenting and poverty and therefore any strategy employed to address truancy should focus on these areas. With respect to the former strong and family units are an imperative. Unfortunately, in today’s world having strong and stable family units is posing a serious challenge to society. As regards the latter that will have to be addressed in the context of the national economy whereby as it improves more resources could be ploughed into poverty alleviation programmes.