EDUCATION Minister, Shaik Baksh, yesterday said that the government will be approached to establish a fund to assist poor parents who encounter grave financial difficulties to send their children to school.
Baksh made the announcement at the opening of a four day capacity building workshop for schools welfare and guidance and counselling officers at the Regency Suites Hotel in Hadfield Street, Georgetown.
The minister pointed out that his ministry is not oblivious to the difficult circumstances facing poor parents, many of whom make a concerted effort to ensure that their children receive an education.
The move, he said, is intended to offer much needed support to these parents. He suggested that the initiative can be managed by the Human Services and Social Security Ministry, with recommendations for eligible parents to benefit from the fund being made by the senior Schools Welfare officers.
Baksh commended the officers of the Schools Welfare Department for the sterling work in maintaining order and acceptable behaviour in the school system and said both the number of schools welfare and guidance and counselling officers will be expanded to better serve those schools where help is much needed.
The Ministry is looking to increase the number of schools welfare officers from 34 to about 50 next year, as well as upping the number of guidance and counselling officers to expand the services of their unit beyond Georgetown, reaching as far as the hinterland regions.
A two year guidance, counselling and welfare skills programme is also being designed, with assistance from a group of experts from the United States, to raise the quality and standards of services being offered to the vulnerable school population.
Baksh noted that his ministry has been recruiting students who have completed high school to function in the guidance and counselling unit and they will be targeted to undergo the programme.
The ministry has also been seeking out the services of teachers with degrees and diplomas in social work in the school system, but some have been reluctant to join the Schools Welfare Department.
The minister disclosed that he is aware of the challenge and might have to review the salary structure for their officers to attract the quota needed to serve the school system.
Under the Associate’s Degree in Education programme offered by the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE), trainee teachers are required to undergo training in the area of guidance and counselling. A more advance programme is being offered by the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD) which is part of a series of continuous professional development programmes.
According to Baksh, the ministry is placing emphasis on this area as it recognises the need for teachers to understand the problems linked to the varying social and economic backgrounds of their charges, and the need to not only offer solutions to their problems but also promote harmonious student/teacher relations.
He said that a pool of trained schools welfare and guidance and counselling officers in the system would not only serve the student population, but parents and teachers as well.
On that note, he commended National Parent Teachers Association Coordinator Carol Benn for her efforts in reaching out to poor parents, particularly in the depressed communities, to enlighten them about the value of education. The PTA unit, he said, will also be strengthened to better carry out its mandate.
European Union representative, Kathy Dummette, expressed her full support for the workshop and lauded the Ministry’s truancy campaigns as well as other efforts to ensure children attend school.
The Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the Government/International Labour Organisation (ILO) Tackle Project workshop, themed “Enhancing Skills, Improving Lives through Education”, seeks to strengthen the capacity of officers to better understand the nature, extent and causes of phenomena such as truancy, school drop-outs and child labour.
It also exposes participants to additional counselling and other strategies to enhance their skills, networking capabilities and a practical experience on the conduct and evaluation of a truancy campaign.
They will be instructed in professional ethics of the work environment; counselling techniques; protocol to be observed in case referrals; empowering children; conflict resolution in relation to school welfare interventions; factors contributing to truancy, school drop-outs, child labour; case work intervention and features of report writing; legal issues in relation to the delivery of the school welfare programme; and procedures in the planning and conducting of truancy campaigns.