16 truants nabbed as…
SIXTEEN children were apprehended in a major truancy campaign, conducted by the Central Ministry and the Region Seven (Cuyuni/Mazaruni) Department of Education Schools’ Welfare Unit, on Thursday in Bartica. The exercise was spearheaded by National Truancy Coordinator, Ms. Yvonne Arthur, who was accompanied by Region Seven Schools’ Welfare Officers, Ms. Marilyn Wyatt and Mr. Zulfikar Hack; Regional Probation Officer, Ms. Joycelyn Gomes and a nurse from Bartica Hospital, a policeman attached to Bartica Police Station and a photographer, none of whom were identified, at Byderabo, Dogg Point and Agatash, all in Bartica.
A release said those areas were targeted because of the high rate of absenteeism among schoolchildren there. Eight were secondary school students, seven primary school pupils and the other a nursery school child.
The parents were contacted and counselled, together with their children and were also sensitized to the Education Act and the consequences of failing to educate schoolchildren, the release said.
It said several reasons were stated for the children not being in school, among them financial difficulties, illness and, in one case, an eight-year-old was left to take care of a four-year-old.
The release said Region Seven Schools’ Welfare Department issued warning letters to two parents and one case was referred to the Regional Probation Department.
The Ministry of Human Services and Social Security Probation, Child Care and Social Security Departments also provide assistance to vulnerable children, and, Arthur said the truants will be closely monitored to ensure that they do not only attend school but do so regularly and punctually.

Clear message
The release said the Ministry of Education, in a bid to send a clear message of its position on this matter, has taken a decision to prosecute parents who have abandoned their responsibility to educate their children.
Child employers are also being targeted and Arthur explained that reports from her officers indicate that poor parenting and parental neglect were the primary causes of truancy.
She noted that the Schools’ Welfare Department has, so far, been able to place a number of children, who never attended school, in a learning institution.
Arthur also called on headteachers to make available, to the Schools’ Welfare Department, the names of children who, regularly, absent themselves from school and emphasised that a child can still be enrolled despite not having a birth certificate.
The former Chief Schools’ Welfare Officer said, while a child is in school, the parent can be advised by a School Welfare Officer on how to acquire the legal document.
The release said Education Minister Shaik Baksh had, previously, announced that the Ministry will take a tougher stance against truancy and negligent parents will be prosecuted in court.
He said his ministry is moving in that direction because efforts to talk to some parents about the importance of educating their children were ineffective and stern action has to be taken to make sure each child not only attends school but receives a sound education and become a productive citizen in society.
The Minister reminded, too, that the Government is providing free uniforms, text books and other forms of support to schoolchildren and all parents must honour their obligation to support and educate their children.
Ministry of Education officers on the truancy campaign