Georgetown: The Ministry of Education Friday held its annual Attendance and Punctuality Award Ceremony at the St. Joseph’s High School. The Ministry in an effort to highlight the importance of punctuality and regular attendance at school has presented awards to 3,543 students from 72 schools in Georgetown. There are 91 schools in the city, however only 72 schools have recorded more than a 95% in the attendance rates for the 2015/2016 academic year.
In addition to individual students who have excellent attendance records, the South Road Nursery, Winfer Gardens Primary, and the Bishop’s High School were awarded for achieving the highest overall attendance record for the 2015/2016 academic year.
The current enrolment in Georgetown for 2016 is 34, 085;Nursery-3,880, Primary-17,697, Secondary 12,508. Officers of the Ministry of Education who addressed the gathering all spoke to 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 (ag)—PEO, said that schools are required to correctly record each student’s attendance.
Addressing the Ministry efforts to curb poor attendance, the PEO said that the Schools Welfare Department typically follow-up on students with less than seventy-five percent attendance. 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 School’s Welfare Officer in her remarks encouraged students to attend schools 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.
Meanwhile, the acting Chief Education Officer—Marcel Hutsonapplauded the Department of Education and Schools Welfare Department for consistently recognizing 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 and achievement 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 in echoing calls made by the Minister of Education—Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine, for the strengthening of PTAs said that there is synergy between the home and the classroom towards achieving education goals. Even as thousands of students were celebrated for their outstanding attendance at school, Ms. Nedd spared a though for the many others who still find it difficult to attend school on a daily bases. 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 B’s initiative, which aims to provide transportation for children to attend school regularly.
Education Month 2016 is being observed under the theme, “Each Child Matters: Stakeholders Unite for the Enhancement of Education.
As Education Month comes to a close, we wish to inform you of the following events:
• Saturday, October 1: Schools in Georgetown and the Georgetown Department of Education, 68 Brickdamwill be planting trees in observance of National Tree Day. From 8:00 hrs
• Sunday, October 2: the Ministry of Education will be hosting its annual FREE Steelband Presentation—‘Amity’ in the Botanical Gardens from 16:00hrs to 18:00 hrs.
• Wednesday, October 5: Launch of the ‘One Laptop per Teacher Initiative at CPCE at 10:00 am.
• Wednesday, October 5: launch of the Craft Showroom at the Craft Production and Designs Division of the Ministry of Education, Durban and High Streets (Carnegie Compound)
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