By PAVEL BAILEY

Tribune Staff Reporter

pbailey@tribunemedia.net

THE Ministry of Education launched its national school attendance hotline on Friday and called on the public to report any child on the streets during school hours.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, 50 per cent of students failed to consistently sign in for virtual learning. While school attendance has returned to 90 per cent since in-person classes resumed nationwide, the ministry hopes this latest initiative will further raise the statistic.

Education Director Dominique Russell urged the public to use the confidential hotline any time they see a truant child on the streets between the hours of 8am to 5pm.

The hotline numbers are 422-4453 or 42- CHILD.

“Education is mandatory for students or children ages 5 to 16,” Director Russell noted. “For students to gain academic and social skills they must be present and engaged.”

“Ninety per cent attendance will not do. We are striving for 100 per cent. We are introducing the National School Attendance Hotline.”

“Members of the public can call in. They can mark it or rack it, make a complaint or raise a concern. The officers, there are two of them, who are receiving training, and they are going to triage the public, and they are going to go to the schools. So help us, help us help our children by finding every child.”

While there are currently 16 attendance officers in New Providence and eight in Grand Bahama, the ministry hopes to add more. The initial focus will be on schools with consistently low attendance numbers. Police officers, under the command of Assistant Commissioner of Police Dr Chaswell Hanna, will be stationed at Signature Plaza in New Providence to deal with truant students.

Education Minister Glenys Hanna-Martin said that the programme has already resulted in a missing child returning to school.

“This is a confidential way of advising the ministry, and your confidentiality is guaranteed and protected,” she said. “It allows us to go into the community and to seek out the children.”

“A missing child is a child at risk. What is going on with that child who ain’t in school? What are they doing? What is happening to that child? That’s scary. And so we have to ensure that at least as far as this human right, which is the school environment and the educational process, is followed as it allows for academic, intellectual and creative stimulus and for needs such as guidance counsellors on campus.

“We are focused on getting children in the classroom because when they are there, we can help to mould and shape and guide a young person as they move forward with their lives. We encourage the public to use this hotline. We have to look out for our children. We have to protect our children.”