-To parents who are fearful of sending their children to school because of COVID 19
Regional Education Officer of Region Four Stembiso Grant said that Region Four has had the highest number of school dropouts since the outbreak of the COVID 19 pandemic in March 2020.
However, on Wednesday she revealed that of the 257 dropouts, 126 have been found.
She made this disclosure during an interview on the Demerara Waves radio.
When asked what were the reasons related by parents for their child not attending school Ms Grant said “a lot of parents are afraid of COVID a few of them had very legitimate reasons; why a few of them lost loved ones or had COVID very badly.”
She said the Ministry is offering psychosocial support to these parents.
Ms Grant explained, “I have a parent who would have expressed to me yesterday that she doesn’t leave her home so many things would have happened to her and it's affecting her children so she needs the help, she needs support from a professional that will help her make that step to get back to some amount of normalcy.”
The REO committed to relocating and having all 257 students back in school.
Meanwhile, Chief Education Officer Dr Marcel Hutson pointed out that the curriculum is consolidated to accommodate these students who are now returning to school while pointing out that the Education Ministry understands "that it’s not easy to be out of school for two and then go back like this thing happen."
Furthermore, he noted that the Education Ministry is also offering help to students who are unable to attend school as a result of learning poverty.
Learning poverty, Dr Hutson explained, happens when students are not able to be in school as a result of poverty.
He noted that help is being offered to students who may not be able to attend school because of not having access to transportation, school uniforms and textbooks among others.
The Education Ministry last week embarked on 'operation recovery'. This initiative is being rolled out in 11 Education districts and is combatting school dropouts with the help of community leaders and residents among other officials.
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