Students and Truancy

by Kymberli Whittaker 

As the new school year approaches, preparation is being made by parents and children alike for the start of the new school term. Some children look forward to new shoes, a crisp set of uniforms, new books, knapsack, and a shiny pair of shoes. The sad truth is, for some children, when school starts the shoes lose their shine, and being back at school loses its novelty. It is back to the same old routine, getting dressed to sit in a class hour for almost 6 hours a day. As the days pass, less and less students in many primary and high schools across our nation simply stop going to school everyday.

An unfortunate number of students attend school on an ad-hoc basis and then turn up for exams, and as expected perform poorly. They lack the basic skills which would give them some amount of leverage in the real world, and the cycle of poverty and crime is perpetuated as a result.

An active Truancy Unit is needed in the Ministry of Education to deal solely with Truants or absentee students and also parents need to be held accountable for their children’s absence from school without explanation. Many students stay home. This is a hard concept for many who have passed through the traditional high school system to understand, where a register is marked daily and if there are any discrepancies in behavior or attendance the parent or care giver is called in. Many students with the knowledge of their parents stay at home or roam the streets during school hours.

At the end of the last school year I was able to view the school report of a female high student from a Corporate area non-traditional high school with over 100 absent days. The teacher recommended in the report that if she attended school on a consistent basis that her performance would be better. Of course this Grade 9 student failed all the subjects she sat in exams. “Where are the parents?” I asked in shock. The reply I received is that they were poor and had no money, and also that the child did not go because she did not feel like attending. The parent was called in to the school, but nothing came of it.

Through investigations, I found out that this child was on the PATH programme, and received assistance allowing her to get meals free at her institution and also to get cash to offset expenses. She was removed from the PATH list most likely because of her poor attendance record, however there was no evidence that more was done. I believe children should not have a choice to attend school or not. They cannot be left to their own devices to choose to go. Their brains are underdeveloped and  they cannot be trusted to make right decisions. They are not adults and a sustem needs to be put in place to mandate them to go.

Chronic absenteeism needs to be tackled immediately. Section 27 of the Education Code says a student can be dropped from the register if he is absent for up to a month without notifying the institution of his withdrawal, but before we reach this far, I advocate that there should be an authority to regulate absenteeism, so that teachers on marking a student absent for an apparopriate period to be decided, can report it and truancy officers can investigate each case to decide how to proceed.. If money is the problem, the children should be placed on the PATH programme as this is one of the reasons it was instituted and monitored and if they lapse there should be consequences. If there are behaviourial issues, the children should be identified, so that corrective steps may be taken to curb their behavior through boot camp, rehab or therapy. If the parents are hindrances to their child’s attendance, I advocate for stiff penalties to deal with them.

Parents who prevent their children from attending school, for different reasons, such as forcing them to sell on the road, or work in the family farm during school hours should be held criminally liable for their failure. Child labour is often overlooked in Jamaica, and some parents exploit the fact that more persons are willing to give to a child beggar than an adult. Some parents simply do not enforce rules at home and promote indiscipline, which results in the children running amuck when they go on the road. Then we wonder why there is so much lawlessness and lack of discipline that pervades Jamaica.

Schools should be held accountable for failure to abide by the regulations of reporting Absentee children or truants, and it is only then, we can really say we are making steps to educate our nation as a whole. Too many are falling through the cracks and then we as a nation look, condemn and try to get our own kids into reputable institutions, wondering how over 100 schools can be operating at a less than desirable level. These are the children who do not do well, continuously repeat or are promoted to other grades to flunk out. They are not able to formally enter the working world and this also contributes to the low illiteracy rate. These are the people whose interviews we laugh at when watching the news, giving birth to viral videos; the people who we see and never want to associate with or cause us to hold our purses near to us when we go on the road.

A little interest goes a long way. How can our students learn if they are not in school. For this school year I challenge you all to not support truancy and absenteeism. When we see children on the road during idling during school hours, especially in uniform- call the school, call the police, call the Ministry of Education…honestly I don’t know who you are to call, but something has to be done. We need a TRUANCY HOTLINE!

Take a stand against illiteracy…Take a stand against poor exam results….Take a stand for Jamaica’s development…Take a stand against Truancy.

Reduced Access to Tertiary Education: Dilemma for the Poor

by: Kymberli Whittaker

"Do well and you will be rewarded". This is the foundation on which educational goals are set. The higher up you climb on the educational ladder, the better off you will be. Children are admonished to pass GSAT (Common Entrance in my day) in order to go to a prestigious High School; then get good results at CXC so they can either go to Sixth Form or go straight to University. 

The objective of getting good passes at Fifth and Sixth Form is to gain acceptance to University to become the famed, Doctor, Nurse, Lawyer, Teacher, and Businessman to make money and get a better life. If born “poor” or “financially strapped”, the saving grace for many in these challenging economic times is the Students’ Loan Bureau.

Children are told that the only “right” way to make it in life is to get an education. Yet it seems that this “right way” is becoming more exclusive and elusive for those who do not have the “right” pockets.

Currently, the Students’ Loan Bureau is yet to identify the 1 Billion from the 1.8 Billion needed to finance loans for students: 6000 new and 9000 returning for the academic year 2014-2015. The school year officially starts September 1, 2014…less than two weeks away.

For the academic period 2012-2013, the institution faced a significant challenge to meet the $4.2 billion needed.  In October 2012, $1.7 billion or 41 per cent of the projected $4.2 billion to be disbursed was identified at that juncture. This shortfall is obviously not a new problem, and yet here we are again, two years later, looking at the causes, pointing fingers and yet not finding any viable solutions.

The figures are disturbing as the numbers agreed to be disbursed this year is almost three times less than that in 2013. It is clear, that fewer people are receiving financial assistance from the main entity put in place to fund tertiary education for the poor, and there is less money to pay out to the reduced numbers.

The SLB's  Mission Statement is fast becoming obsolete:

“THROUGH A SUSTAINABLE REVOLVING LOAN FUND PROVIDE THE POOR AND OTHERS WITH AFFORDABLE  FINANCING FOR TERTIARY EDUCATION AND CLIENT SATISFACTION THEREBY CONTRIBUTING TO SOCIAL MOBILITY AND NATION BUILDING.”

It is evident the fund is not sustainable as is, and as a result will affect the poor and "others" with a ripple effect of reducing opportunities for social mobility and nation building through an educational platform. The fund aimed to benefit the poor will not be accessible to the poor. The poor ,who once they prove their need, have to pay money to insure the loan before it can be disbursed to the institution. The poor, who have to find additional sums for boarding/ living expenses if coming from rural areas, transportation, food, books and other materials necessary  to be successful in whichever degree they decide to pursue. The poor, who simply do not have it to begin with are at a greater risk of not being granted loans to assist in their social mobility.

We are in real trouble. Again, the news of the shortfall for the year  has come at the 11^th hour.  Hall Orientation has started  at UWI as the academic term draws nigh…yet, loans are still pending.  If we as a nation are not careful, the buck will stop at CXC for more and more students.

The loan scheme is to be a revolving  fund, however, those who have received loans in the past are not contributing to the fund as desired. Some persons simply cannot afford to repay their loan at the end of their university tenure as they are yet to receive gainful employment; others are employed in jobs which once their basic needs of food, shelter and clothing are met cannot  repay the loan while others simply choose not to. The latter  borrow and repayment is not a priority.

The Students' Loan Bureau has approached the private sector for funds to assist in closing the funding gap, but without any known success as institutions are unwilling to lend to SLB without a Government of Jamaica guarantee. It is evident that SLB's current loan model cannot sustain the growing demand for student loans without considerable yearly increases in capital. And even with a hundred per cent compliance rate for repayment, on the part of borrowers, the increased demand for more student loans calls for greater capital injection in the SLB.

Jamaica’s economic climate is harsh, however one has to acknowledge that we are treading through dangerous waters, as Bachelor’s degrees are almost a dime a dozen, with several institutions offering programmes and at the end of the student’s tenure,  jobs commensurate with qualifications are hard to find. The stance taken by the Ministry of Education in prioritizing certain degrees for loan assistance probably has been a long time coming. Popular degrees such as Business Administration and Law are to feel the pinch, as relevant and under-subscribed  professions are given priority.

Students have to be strategic in career choices as it is pointless to go to school for 3-4 years only to sit at home with the same degree.

Tertiary education is becoming grossly undervalued and out of reach, so what then  can we do to secure  the future of the country.? Depending on the government and their institutions is not the way. Firstly parents need to start saving from birth to lessen the burden, as I believe that much responsibility is shafted to the state. $100 saved religiously at intervals during a child's lifetime is one way. We need to get into the culture of planning for the long-term.

The NEI Reports have shown that many students are under-performing, year after year. I believe the Government should stop paying for CXC Subjects. Great initiative but the free mentality at this level  is not heralding positive results.  The money saved can be put in funds to assist our youth who have accepted the challenge to work and make it in life.

  The Private sector also needs to step up to the plate because the environment which will be created in a few years will detract investors and prevent economic stimulation thus reducing profits and directly affecting their business. Alumni of institutions, need to step up and invest in their people and thus invest in their country. Jamaica has come a long way and as citizens we need to take a more active role in our nations’ development to prevent tertiary education from returning to the luxury it once was.