Steps are being taken by the Ministry of Education (MoE) to place more emphasis on pre-primary education by changing the compulsory school attendance age from 5 years 9 months to 3 years 9 months and to encourage parental involvement in education.
Minister of Education Sheik Baksh, speaking at a symposium for parents on Tuesday, stated that a 70 per cent school attendance rate pointed to parents not being fully on board with their children’s education.
The symposium, a Govern-ment Information Agency (GINA) release said, was a joint effort by MoE and UNICEF. It was organised as part of Education Month activities and conducted under the theme, ‘Child friendly homes: child friendly classrooms-quality education’.
The session, conducted at the International Conference Centre in Liliendaal, aimed at giving participants the knowledge and skills to become better parents, and to help them create and maintain child friendly homes.
Baksh noted that the overall aim of his ministry is to improve education learning outcomes, GINA reported. After the implementation of a series of measure to engender positive changes with regard to this aim there have been notable improvements. Government, Baksh noted, has invested much resources as is evident in the construction of new schools.
What is missing from the equation, he stated, is the involvement of parents in the education of children. This has resulted in MoE seeking to expand its Parents/Teachers Council to encourage more parental participation.
Meanwhile, UNICEF Programme Officer and Education and Emergency Specialist Michelle Rodrigues stressed that the duty of parents went beyond providing food and shelter for their children. MoE and partners in the process need to undertake a lifecycle approach to raising children, she said, which includes being integrally involved in a child’s life from babyhood to the age of 18.
Several fathers were among the parents present at the symposium and Rodrigues said this signalled a dimension shift in parenting. She further added that it is the duty of MoE to strengthen the capacity of parents to take care of their children.