The Schools’ Welfare Department will be taking 14 parents from Mosquito Hall, Riverview, Unity and Lancaster in Mahaica, Region Four, to court for abandoning the responsibility to educate their child.
The Department last month had taken 17 parents in the Upper Corentyne area, Region Six, to court for the same offence. They were ordered by the Magistrate to ensure that their children attend school within a two mile radius of the community in which they reside.
The department, in a campaign conducted in the Mahaica area on Friday last, apprehended 38 truants and according to National Truancy Campaign Coordinator, Evonne Arthur, among the lot were three cases of children who never attended school and another of child labour.
She also pointed out that there was one report of a child who was allegedly burned with “hot oil” by a relative. That matter, Arthur said, is in the hands of the Police.
The National Truancy Campaign Coordinator said that the person who put the child to work will also be placed before the courts, and the parents of the children who never attended school were counselled on the importance of educating their children.
They were also issued warning letters and letters to visit the Placement Unit in the region to obtain a school for their child.
The parents of students who did not attend school for a considerable period of time also received similar attention.
Arthur underlined that her officers will be following up these matters and will closely monitor these students’ attendance as well as their performance in the classroom.
She noted that some of the truants will be referred to the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security’s Probation, Child Care and Social Security Departments for assistance.
Arthur also called on head teachers to make available to the School’s Welfare Department the names of students who are often absent from school and stressed that a child can still be enrolled at a school even though he does not have a birth certificate.
The former Chief Schools’ Welfare Officer explained that while the child is in school, the parent can be advised by a Schools’ Welfare Officer on how to acquire the legal document.
The Truancy Campaign Coordinator was able to locate most of the truants from a list supplied by her officers and managed to apprehend a few others through the assistance of members in the communities where the campaign was held.
Education Minister Shaik Baksh had earlier announced that his Ministry will take a tougher stance against truancy and negligent parents will be placed before the court.
He explained that his ministry is moving in this direction as efforts to talk to parents of truants about the importance of educating their children were ineffective.
Truancy, he said, is a problem in Region Six and other parts of the country, and stern action has to be taken to ensure these children not only attend school, but receive a proper education and become productive citizens in society.
The minister said too the Government is providing free uniforms, text books and other forms of support to students and all parents and teachers must honour their responsibility to support and educate the children.