Schools seek to lower truancy rate

On Friday, the nation’s primary schools will be closing for Christmas… so you might think a truancy workshop held today would have been a lost cause. But organizers say they are taking the necessary steps to ensure that when school reopens in January, there will be significantly more students at their desks.

Jacqueline Woods, Reporting

Truancy officers believe that at least fifteen percent of the country’s students are consistently absent from school.

Cheryl Arthurs, Truancy Officer, Ministry of Education

“For the month, a child is allowed to be absent for six sessions without an excuse, and after that we visit the homes and find out what is the reason why they are out of school and from my observation that I have visiting homes, I observe the reason is mainly poverty. Poverty has kept a lot of children out of schools.”

The parents most often complain that their children do not have the necessary clothes, shoes, or books to send them to school. Some believe that their children do not need an education, or that it’s more important for them to work. No matter what the problem is, the Ministry of Education tries to address the issues through its truancy programme.

Marva Bood, Truancy Officer

“Let’s say the child doesn’t have any footwear to go to school, we would go into the home and try and go to Human Development and try to assist the parents… okay, you get the footwear so that won’t be the problem for the child not attending school.”

Cheryl Arthurs

“There are parents in the community who still believe that education is not the answer, no and we have been trying by every means to reach out to them.”

This morning, the truancy officers met with some of the parents. Although the meeting was not well attended, it is hoped that the information was absorbed by all concerned.

Cheryl Arthurs

“I decided to hold the workshop to see where the need is and which area we can affect them, whether it is through the social development or just they need a little self-esteem from the Women’s Department. Then we had a facilitator from the National Committee for Children and Family. That is to teach them the rights of the child to receive an education.”

Throughout the school year, truancy officers visit schools and check registers to find out which students have been absent more than the number of days allowed. Jacqueline Woods for News 5.

The truancy officers say they have discovered that at one Belize City school as many as twenty students have been regularly absent.