– during truancy campaign around Stabroek Market area

By Naomi Marshall
MORE than 200 school children were found loitering in the vicinity of Stabroek Market during school hours by the Schools Welfare Department of the Ministry of Education on Tuesday.

They were picked up during a truancy campaign which started at around 09:30 hours. The primary and secondary school students were gathered, placed in minibuses and taken to their respective schools.

The campaign was led by Chief Schools Welfare Officer (CSWO), Gillian Vyphuis, who stated that the welfare department, overtime, has observed a large number of students were going to school late and loitering during school hours.

“The loitering is a norm and based on feedback that we got from members of the community, we find that some children are not interested so we are here to see that they go to school,” the CSWO said.

Vyphuis indicated that among the issues which fall under the scope of the department are attendance and punctuality, which is why the exercise will be done on a daily basis.
She said since the campaign began on the first day of school of this year, the department has noticed a decrease in loitering by students.

Vyphuis is pleading with parents to ensure their children take their education seriously.
“What I would like to say to parents is to encourage your children to attend school every day and on time because education is the key to success. Without education you cannot move forward in life,” the officer stated.

According to the CSWO, students who are found loitering will be transferred to schools closer to their homes.

The public was overly satisfied with the measures being taken by the Welfare Department to get the children in uniform off the streets.
Odell Simon, a tout on 41 South Park, said he would see school children loitering at the

park every day waiting on “flashy buses”.
“What I saw the ministry doing today is something that makes sense. The ministry is clamping down so that the children could continue to get their education,” he said
While persons may hold the view that touts, conductors and drivers would influence the students to loiter, Simon disagreed.

“The touts, conductors, bus drivers don’t influence them. The children like to catch these flashy buses and that is what they does be waiting on. When we the touts or conductors sending them in the bus to get their education they does say no, they waiting on this bus and that bus.”

Senior citizen, Gail Atkinson, also praised the initiative.
She wants the government to ban obscene music from being played in the minibuses and introduce special big buses to take students to school.