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…as efforts are intensified to address unsavoury practices in schoolsBy Sharmain CornetteIn order to combat the prevalence of unsavoury practices found within some school environs, the Education Ministry has introduced a Guidance and Counselling Unit.Minister of Education, Shaik Baksh, said that his Ministry is currently selecting the most suitable applicants to manage the new unit.“We are bringing in initially 11 Guidance Counsellors to work in some of the areas where we have problems to help to counsel the children,” Baksh noted. However, plans to expand the Unit are already apace by way of a ‘training of trainers’ programme, the Minister divulged.In addition, he disclosed that the Ministry is currently designing a special training programme to complement the work of the Schools Welfare Department.According to Baksh, the Ministry has observed with much displeasure that students in the public education system are engaging in unacceptable activities both inside and outside of the schools. In recognition of this fact, Baksh said that efforts have been made to address the question of staffing in the Schools Welfare Department.“Never before has the Schools Welfare Department been better staffed. We have 50 staffers and we are to appoint some additional staff. We also have plans to promote some already on staff to Senior School Welfare Officers,” Baksh related.With the boosted capacity, he revealed that the Ministry has been able to conduct many truancy campaigns throughout the school districts. He noted that at the moment there are statistics to prove that a number of children have been interviewed and efforts have been made to get them back into the school system.Earlier this year, Chief Schools Welfare Officer, Reverend Banmattie Ram, had disclosed that more than 200 cases of truancy were addressed by the Welfare Department as at the previous academic year. She related that several of the cases were linked to poverty and parental negligence. It was against this background that the Ministry had sought to intensify its campaigns.Ram had disclosed that a total of 87 truancy cases were found in Region Three, 57 in Region Four, 203 in Region Five, 276 in Region Six, 22 in Region Seven, 16 in Region 10, and 89 in Georgetown, following several campaigns.Once found to be truants, students are usually referred to the Department of Education within their respective regions through which an investigation commences to determine the root cause for the truant behaviour.According to Ram, it has been observed in many cases that poverty has been the main reason that some parents are unable to send their children to school.“Reports have come in that children stay away because their parents cannot afford to send them to school. So we have looked into collaborating with social welfare services and other persons in communities who would want to assist these children.”Having detected truancy cases,NFL Jerseys Cheap, Ram disclosed that follow-up programmes are employed to ensure that students remain in school.The chief official highlighted that since the Welfare Unit has major emphasis on bringing back children into the school system, efforts have been made to investigate and take action as it relates to children not attending schools.“From time to time our school welfare officers will engage in home visits and visits to schools. For this year, every month our officers are going to engage in one major ‘Operation Care’ campaign along with mini campaigns, where we target hideouts and visit certain communities from which we get calls from citizens.”According to Ram, the care campaign which is expected to be robust will target several areas known for encouraging the practice of truancy. She disclosed that during the month of January, four campaigns were conducted in Berbice, during which time approximately 175 students were picked up and processed.Ram disclosed that letters were given to some of them to be re-admitted to school while others were assisted with getting their birth certificates and they have been exposed to counselling sessions which are ongoing.Recruitment for additional officers, Ram noted, will be made possible through a two-year training programme for new officers. However, before the formal training starts, officers already on staff will be exposed to developmental training.This, Ram said, is needful since some officers may not be fully aware of how to deal with certain social issues they encounter. And because the social problems cannot be addressed at the level of the child only, Ram said that welfare officers will also be tasked with working closely with parents as well.“We realise that we cannot do our job to the fullest extent without collaboration from other social entities and the parents. Education is both parent and teachers. They also have to collaborate with the schools’ welfare service. We are realising more and more that trying to just counsel children is not enough, we need to engage more in parental seminars.”According to Minister Baksh, schools as well as parents must not abdicate their key roles in helping to keep students in the school system. He speculated that more could be achieved in this regard if the Ministry continues to embrace the notion of going into communities, as was done during the observance of Education Month.Meanwhile, Minister Baksh though concerned about the spate of mysterious activities in some schools, noted that intervention on the part of his Ministry is practically impossible.“This is beyond my area. I know it is happening…Communities have been dealing with it, religious organisations have been dealing with it, but I don’t think that there is much that the Ministry can do,” Baksh said.