Curbing truancy is a crucial task of any society because it is breeding ground for the development of criminals and other anti-social activities and destruction of the future of children. And by extension lay the foundation for an increase of social problems in society.

Missing out on education severely affects children’s life chances. Truancy is always in the news, but what does it mean for parents and what can parents do to tackle the problem?

Your responsibility:
As a parent you have the legal responsibility for making sure your school-registered child attends school regularly.

Five tips for preventing truancy problems:

* Make sure your child understands how important it is to attend school regularly and that you do not approve of them missing school.

* Take an active interest in your child’s schoolwork. Ask them about their day and praise and encourage their achievements at school.

* If your child tells you they are bored at school, ask to meet with their teachers.

* If your child makes excuses to try to avoid going to school, listen to them – you may find there is an underlying problem. It could be problems with schoolwork – it could be bullying.

* Make sure that your child gets to school on time. Arriving late can be disruptive for your child and the other children in the class.

The costs of missing out:

* All absences come at a price – children missing school may not be able to keep up with school work. In a busy school day it is difficult for your child’s teacher to find the extra time helping them to catch up.

* Missing two weeks of term time in each year of a child’s school life is the same as missing one whole school year.

* Its not only academic work that is affected by missing school. Missing out on the social side, especially at primary school, can affect children’s ability to make and keep their friendships, a vital part of growing up.

Here in Guyana Chief Schools Welfare Officer (CSWO) Ms. Bhanmattie Ram has reported that the Schools Welfare Department has picked up some 400 truants from 17 campaigns carried out in the first quarter of 2009.

Ms. Ram disclosed to this newspaper that half the amount came from Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne) ,and close to 300 were taken off the streets and other places during past two weeks.

According to the CSWO, based on available statistics, some 425 children were apprehended for the same period in 2008.

She pointed out that around 20 per cent of the 400 truants are cases of real concern, as they include a few who never attended school.

The remainder, Ram said, happened to be students who stayed home because they perceive little work will be done at school’ but on the whole they are not habitual truants.

She explained that the high number of truants identified in Region Six was due largely to the vigilance and support from practically all the key education stakeholders.

The CSWO noted that in Region Two, (Pomeroon/ Supenaam), 50 truancy cases were recorded, the second highest for all the 10 Administrative Regions with the exception of Regions Eight (Potaro/ Siparuni) and Nine (Upper Takatu/ Upper Essequibo) where no campaign was conducted.

Notably too, Ram revealed that only four truants were picked up in Region Four (Demerara/Mahaica), a whopping reduction from 68 in the first quarter of 2008.

However, she feels that many more truants could have been apprehended if her department had more access to transportation.

These are some interesting disclosures which show clearly that the truancy is more prevalent in some communities and therefore more resources should be allocated to combat the problem in those communities where it is more prevalent.

Ms. Ram indicated also that more truants could have been picked up had there been more access to transportation. Against this background the Education Ministry should spare no effort to provide better transportation facilities.

However, it is clear that the Schools Welfare Department has intensified its anti-truancy efforts and from all indications has chalked up an impressive performance in the first quarter of this year. It is hoped that that this laudable performance would be sustained for the remainder of the year.

Ms. Ram also stressed that the children picked up during the campaigns are counselled together with their parents on the importance of education and its role in their development.

This is perhaps an even more important as aspect of the anti-truancy performance.

However, it is imperative that the entire society provide support in the anti-truancy and must not be seen as only a government/ministry because if such societal problems are not tackled effectively it could result in the colossal undermining of our future as a nation.