THE Ministry of Education Friday held its annual Attendance and Punctuality Award Ceremony at the St. Joseph High School.The ministry presented awards to 3,543 students from 72 schools in Georgetown. In a statement, the Ministry of Education said there are 91 schools in the city, but only 72 schools recorded attendance rates of more than 95% for the 2015/2016 academic year.

In addition to individual students who have excellent attendance records, South Road Nursery, Winfer Gardens Primary and the Bishop’s High School were awarded for achieving the highest overall attendance record for the academic year.

The current enrolment in Georgetown for 2016 is 34, 085 students, with nursery schools accounting for 3,880, primary17,697 and secondary 12,508.

Officers of the Ministry of Education who addressed the gathering all spoke about the importance of children attending school frequently and punctually, as studies show that there is a correlation between students attendance and their grades.

Immanuel Bridgewater, Principal Education Officer, said that schools are required to correctly record each student’s attendance.

Addressing the ministry’s efforts to curb poor attendance, Bridgewater said that the Schools Welfare Department typically checks on students with less than a 75 percent attendance rate. Follow-up on such students usually entails home visits, letters, and phone calls to the parents of those children who have been frequently absent from school.

Glenna Vyphius, Chief Schools Welfare Officer, encouraged students to attend school regularly and highlighted the benefits of doing so regularly. She noted that in spite of the numerous challenges children face, it is worth it to stay in school.

“Do not give up,” she said.

The acting Chief Education Officer, Marcel Hutson, applauded the Department of Education and Schools Welfare Department for consistently recognising pupils and students of Georgetown for their excellent attendance and punctuality over the years.

He said that excellent punctuality and attendance are essential to success at school.

“It is also vital that our pupils and students learn to become independent and develop important time management skills,” Mr. Hutson posited. He continued, “Attendance and punctuality shows commitment, attentiveness and determination.”

Permanent Secretary Delma Nedd, while noting that thousands of students were celebrated for their outstanding attendance at school, spared a thought for the many others who still find it difficult to attend school on a daily basis.

She said that poor attendance is a major problem for the education system.

“Generally, low attendance at schools sometimes occurs because of factors exogenous to the system,” she noted.  Such exogenous factors range from inclement weather patterns, high transportation costs or socio-economic factors.

The permanent secretary said that the ministry’s goal is to enhance welfare measures to reduce the costs of education for poor families. Such measures include the distribution of exercise books, textbooks, school uniform assistance, school feeding programmes, and President Granger’s Three Bs initiative, which aims to provide transportation for children to attend school regularly.