Some 21 truants were apprehended in a recent campaign conducted in the Cummings Lodge Squatting Area and Ogle, East Coast Demerara, the education ministry on Friday disclosed, even as it announced that it will start prosecuting parents allowing these acts.

“The Education Ministry has taken a decision to prosecute parents who have abandoned their responsibility to educate their children in a bid to send a clear message of its position on this matter. Child employers are also being targeted,” a statement from the ministry read.

It added that reports from Schools Welfare Officers (SWO) have indicated that “poor parenting and parental neglect” were the primary causes of truancy. The Schools Welfare Department has so far been able to place a number of children who never attended school in an institution of learning.

The release reported education minister Shaik Baksh as saying that they will move to the court because efforts to talk to some parents about the importance of educating their children were ineffective.

He added that stern action has to be taken to ensure that every child attends school, receives a sound education and becomes a productive citizen in society.

The recent campaign on the East Coast Demerara was headed by Georgetown SWO Sharon Harris and included officials from the Education and Human Services and Social Security ministries and a group of University of Guyana (UG) students. They also made spot checks at game shops in Campbellville.

The release from the ministry reported Harris as saying that the exercise sought to sensitise negligent parents of their responsibilities to educate their children and to ensure school aged children attend school regularly and punctually.

“She noted that of the 21 children apprehended, 11 were girls between the ages of six and 12, while the others were boys within the age range of nine and 14.The SWO disclosed that there was one case of sexual molestation which was promptly reported to the Human Services and Social Security Ministry,” the release added.

According to the statement, Harris also noted too that there was one case in which the parents slept the entire morning and the child was left unattended and could not attend school.

The parents of the child, she said were issued a letter to visit the Schools Welfare Department at 68 Brickdam, Georgetown.

The SWO said the parents of the other children were counselled and the Schools Welfare Department will be closely monitoring the truants to ensure they attend school regularly and punctually.