Over 200 students caught loitering at minibus parks

The Education Ministry’s Welfare Department on Tuesday morning swooped down at several minibus parks around the city, where over 200 children who were caught loitering.

Chief Schools Welfare Officer at the Education Ministry, Gillian Vyphius, told this publication that a decision was made to carry out a truancy campaign after it was reported that students are loitering on the minibus parks instead of heading to school.
“Well, this morning (Tuesday) we had a truancy campaign because we found that most mornings, children are going to school late. The Welfare Department is really in charge of punctuality so we are out here to ensure that children get to school on time,” she said.
She said the aim was to get the students to school and in a timely manner.
“What we did was to round up children who were loitering, children who were actually late and stepping. We round them up and ensure that they enter a bus to go to school.”
She added that loitering seems to be a norm for students.
“…And based on feedback that we got from members of the community, we find that some children need to stay back late, that they are not interested. We are here to see that they go to school.”
She said that parents should encourage their children to attend school and check on their punctuality.
“Without education, you cannot move forward in life,” she expressed.
Meanwhile, Vyphius said that if a child is found to be late every day or very often then the Education Ministry will take necessary actions to deal with the situation from a parental level.
“If we find that a specific child is being late on a daily basis, we will try to get that child to the nearest school to which they are living. We find that there are children living on the West Coast and they are coming to school in Georgetown so we are going to look into it and transfer them to the nearest school that they can reach to school on time,” the officer said.