– 14-yr-old found at ‘work place’
A 14-year-old boy who quit school to maintain his single mother and three siblings was picked up yesterday at his workplace at Rosignol, West Berbice and given a letter to be readmitted to school.
A child who was sent on an errand is picked up by staff of the education department. One officer holds him while the other takes charge of the bicycle he was riding. (Shabna Ullah photo)
The boy was among 25 children who were not in school between 9 am and 2 pm when the Department of Education held its annual Operation Care (formerly truancy) Campaign.
Senior Schools’ Welfare Officer, Gillian Vyphuis, told the child to start attending school again from today, but his 28-year-old mother begged for him to “work out this week so he can collect his pay…”
The boy told Vyphuis that he would use the earnings to purchase items to start school from Monday. But his mother was concerned that the money would not be enough.
Vyphuis, two colleagues and a police officer, made a sweep in other sections of West Berbice.
Five other boys were found catching crabs in a trench at Ithaca. Three of the boys ran away, while the other two related that their parents had no “passage” to give them so they could not go to school.
Asked whether they would sell the crabs to get money to go to school, the boys responded “no we catching them to cook.”
Some of the other children were either running errands or just ‘liming’ on the streets. A few managed to escape after they realized what was taking place.
As the children were rounded up, a few parents made excuses that they had not sent them to school because they were “sick.” The officers responded that they should have been in bed. One parent made a flimsy excuse that her son could not go to school because his “belt head” was broken.
The children were taken to the Rosignol Primary School and their parents later followed to sign and take them home, but not before receiving a stern warning from Vyphuis to ensure that they attended school.
She told the parents that according to Section 39:01 of the Education Act, they have to ensure that their children are educated and that they attend school regularly.
She said the department would be checking the school records to verify that the parents were complying and if not they could be charged and placed before the courts.
The campaign coincides with Education Month and Vyphuis said that certificates would be presented to students who scored 100% attendance.
She said the “thumb printing trend must be broken; children must at least learn how to sign their names. Not because you may not have an education you must deny your child one…”
A few of the parents said they kept their children at home because they are “not learning anything” or they could not afford to send them. But Vyphuis said that the schools also offered skills training.
One man said he was taking care of a boy who had left the government school to attend a private school, but he could no longer afford the fees. He made a request for the child to be readmitted at the government school and was issued a letter.
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Great move,but it should be done on a regular basis. At least once a month. I remember when I was a boy the educatuion ministry started to do this type of thing then they stopped. I am happy to know that they started again. I was a student at Rosignol primary and secondary schools. Parents should be held responsible for any child under 18 and are not in school.
………..education department had inspectors who came in and check attendance of all students every week……………..in my time i trot bare feet to and from school………with very little ……….and had to plant a farm and kitchen garden…………you had to do something with your head, yard and your children………….government hand out, food for the poor, remittance, and the barrel …..dangerous …..nobody wants to farm to eat anymore…..
glad for my soil.uder the ppp guyana will develop into a humane balance soiety.
this i have no doubt.
this should be done every forthnite until the impression is created that the govt is serious.
How long will this last for ,, ???????????????????? this is 16 years late ! and yes,,, i know they say better late than never !,,,, i say ” best ” never late !,,,,,, with a vision ,, this should have been the first task to correct the ERROR of the PNC ,,,, to combat the growing diliquency ,, ,,,, hence ,, have a handle on crime ,, how abt the factory where this child worked ,, shouldn’t the person who hired the child ,, be charged ,, or do we not have laws on the books against child labour ???? or was the person who hired the child,,,,,,,,,,, providing a “service ” to the community ,, in his heart ,, he probably felt good abt his decision to employ child labour,, knowing the circumstances of the child’s parent/s,,,,,,,,
Yannassee, what ERROR of the PNC are you talking about. Enlighten me, I was educated during the PNC years in Linden and we could not be out of school during school hours. The parents, teachers, policemen and I know one headmaster Eddie London, who cared less about which school you attended, he would drag your butt to your school. It seems like the PNC is blamed for every darn thing in Guyana lately.
You are so biased…..you guys are repulsive. All who are lambasing the PNC now, benefited from Burnham’s free education from nursery to university policy. However, you can bath the pig but you cannot stop him from rolling in the mud.
Look at those kids, were they born in Burnham time? Don’t make the results at CXC and the rest fool you….go see the abject poverty in the rural areas. The parents have a case against the government: Is it cost-effective for them to send their kids to school….the parents are saying that the children learns nothing…..forget about the crap about long term benefits of education…look at the immediate bread and butter issues like learning pun hungry belly…..would they live long enough to benefit for going to school now.
The answer is not catching the kids and warning parents about what the education act have instore for them. There should be a program of support to those desparately poor parents.
Further go to the rosignal area and find out who are exploiting these young children to sell chips and “salsay”.
hey man stop playing the blame game, when i was going to school education was free from nursery to university and school books were free, and life wasn’t that hard as it is now.
Yannesse, you seem to be an authority on every issue and the PNC seems to be the fault of all your problems. I guess you can blame the PNC for what’s happen on Wall Street? Who introduced free education from Nursery to University? the PPP?
Yannassee your views are unfortunate.
My friend don’t blame the P.N.C. for everything. I am not one of their fan/supporter,but however to give Jack his Jacket I would have to defend them on this one. I went to school in their era, even though it was not easy either. You have to go and line up for flour and dhaal and fetch water and sutdy without light etc. etc.. But they had this system in place and they used to enforce it. I remember the cops used to come in Ritz and Atma cinema unannounced when we used to runaway on Mondays to to peep a show and we use to hide under the bench or run to the toilet to hide as soon as you hear that the cops are around. Yes and this was in Rosignol. So i hope this Government keep it up.
Anyone who hire under age kids full time should be charged. Afternoons and weekends is o.k.
Listen what contradictory statement is this. If the darn child is under age then he/she is under age and should not work under no circumstances. That Afternoons and week-ends the children should be playing and studying for christ sake.
why should they but the excuses parents made the should get charge because the excuses is not nice so then they do not want their children to gain knowlege well department of education should deal with it
Children should not be employed in factories – period. There are laws against that! The factory owner/management should be prosecuted among other things.
Truancy patrols should be an ongoing exercise and not an annual ‘catch the public eye’ activity.
I am in totally agree with that
It is good to come on line and see something that makes one feel good for the second time in a row yesterday Sam Hinds removal of the squatters at the Airport and now this,the first mile begins with the first foot step and if the general Guyanese population continues in this direction I see hope for the future of this nation, this was positive and it should not be limited to just child month, this should go beyond .the Ministry should rededicate it’s service to ensuring that the youths of our nation obtain an education, the parents of our youths has a moral obligation to these children too, and the community should not be spared do not contribute to the demise of our youths education as Zainno said above evenings and weekends odd job wont hurt but not gainful employment. As Hilary Clinton wrote it takes a village to raise a child.
…………….hi sagga hilary clinton never did rote that quote………..it was taken from an african proverb…..and we did using long before she state it…..it was our viiages that save us in guyana back then………they now start to use it…….
Gosh I hate this PNC/PPP attacks… When are we going to realise that attacking the government won’t help to change or repair damages? THEY DON’T CARE!!!!
I remembered during the PNC reigns this was in effect in Linden (can’t speak for other cities). Every child had to be in school or be locked up. Not sure if this was a scare tactic. This is just being reinforced after so many years.
Is there a government or non-government organization that donates school clothes and other items needed? Does anyone remember “Burnham Bedding” those were donated to help kids stay in school also books etc.
This true, I grew up in Linden and there was a Police Officer by the name of GoodChild and apparently it was his job to detain children who were not in school, during school hours. This guy drives so much fear in you as a child by just hearing his name that if you were sick you were in your yard or you better be in school.
All this changed after after Burnham died and education became a back seat thing. Its started with Mr. Hoyte and continue to this day. I know there were many things that had to addressed, which because of Mr. Burnham failed policies place the nation on its knees but if we look at our education level then against what it is now, we should be ashamed. Just to give an example…a few years ago I opened a CXC Mathematics exam paper and notice that the formulas were all given on page one. Can you believe this. We are spoon feeding them and they still not going to school. We need to bring back the GoodChilds of the past.
Least but not last, what is a 28 year old doing with a 14 year child. What is happening in Berbice? Berbice has made the news two days in a row.
The government of Guyana is tripping over themselves. The 14 year old boy who was working to support his single mother and 3 siblings is not a boy at all; he’s a man. He should be applauded. He has taken the responsibility to ensure that his younger siblings and mother get food to eat and a place to live. I wonder if the great government, in their quest to better the lives of Guyanese, will also assist that family, and others in similar situations, with regards to food, shelter, and clothing. Someone needs to inform his majesty the president that the US govt provides food stamps, rent subsidies, tax breaks, and a number of other support mechanisms to families who are in situations similar to this one. Now, how is this boy’s mother supposed to feed her other three children, plus send this boy and the others to school all by herself? Where will she get the money from? When will there be a competent person in office in Guyana? When?
Where are the fathers…children should not made to work while under age.
You make some excellent points. But the parents need to take some responsibility too. There are many dead beat so call dad out there who need to be paying for child support. And these mothers are making way too many kids that are being lead down a path of curtain poverty . When kid are drop out of school they will have no better life that their parents, maybe worst.
kudos to the Education Department and its drive to reduce truancy. It was a long time I indicated to all and sundry who would listen that parents must be held responsible, and be charged if possible, for allowing their children to stay away from school.
Moderator, when I view the main ‘News’ page it says ‘3 comments’ listed under the article, but when I click on the article (this one), there are not comments shown. Is there something I’m supposed to be doing? I cannot view the posts made by bloggers.
Moderator’s note: Maybe you should refresh your browser. You should be seeing the comments at the bottom of the article once you click on it.
I am seeing it now, thanks. I did refresh, cleared the cookies, but was having the difficulty. I’m seeing it now though. Thanks again.
Not only nab the kids,nab the parent/s and those culprits who employ them too.
No more lame excuses….catching crab to eat..leh he wok out de rest of de week fuh he pay coz i could use de week pay….Its the parents who make thier children and must be held responsible for them at all times until of legal age…Some parents need to sit in a cold cell for a few days to reflect how wicked they are to their children..bring the dead beat fathers to court and compell him to pay child support or go to for a long time…I can understand Govt helping out single parents whos husbands are deceased.Put a curfew on these kids….Teachers must report absentees to parents and then to police.Dont just say it:::Do it:::::::::
So, can I expect you to send a lil donation to help the mother feed her other 3 children plus the one mentioned in the article? Yes?
Evileyes and coolieman check the unemployment rate in Guyana. See how many people are out of work. Let the people tell you about the discrimination they experience when trying to find work. How are these people to take care of their families if they can’t find work. Before typing you should look at the whole picture, not a part of the picture.
Make sense, not nonsense.