Many Students, Primarily Boys, Have Dropped Out

Dian Maheia

And then there is the reality that many children have dropped out of school. Since last year, we have been reporting that a number of children have been lost to the system and for varied reasons. C.E.O. Maheia says that that true amount will only be determined when on campus in-person classes resume. The Ministry of Education is also looking into the effects that this has had on early childhood development.

Dian Maheia, C.E.O., Ministry of Education

“We know that we have lost students, everyone knows that. Every adult recognises that we have lost especially our boys. We’ve lost boys along the way. We’ve heard students of all ages talk about how they don’t like online, they can’t handle this, this package thing doesn’t work – we know that. What we don’t know for sure is exactly how many because some of them may be enrolled, but they are not participating in distance learning. Some of them may not have enrolled because they don’t like the distance learning, but they are saying when we go back to face-to-face, I’ll go back. So the only way for us to assess the situation is to go back. Because if I say okay Duane I have not seen you online or Duane you have not picked up a package from school for weeks, but now you need to report to school every Monday and Wednesday and you don’t come to school, I now have – I can check where you are – because now I am sure that is this real now that Duane has really dropped out. Maybe before, Duane was just hiding out because he didn’t like distance learning. But for one set of students that is imperative; we have to start so we can know. What the preliminary numbers are telling us is that we have tremendous reduction in early childhood enrolment. People are afraid to send their babies to school. It is natural. But the only way for us to begin to remedy this is to start.”