The Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security says over 100 parents and guardians participated in a Parenting Education Workshop, part of a series it is hosting for parents in the Kuru Kuru, Soesdyke area to further augment its programme to reduce truancy.
In a press release, the ministry said the latest initiative, a pilot programme being undertaken by the School Retention and Child Labour Prevention Programme aims to enhance parenting skills and help parents prevent their children becoming victims of child labour, or truancy.
The Programme includes counselling for parents and children and providing children with hot meals, snacks and transportation to school. It is being executed by the ministry with support from the ILO/IPEC Tackling Child Labour Through Education Project.
The objective of the Parenting Education Workshop is to improve skills for effective parenting, to strengthen their roles and advance their understanding of different personalities, and the psychosocial and emotional development of children.
The importance of education, school attendance and participation in school activities and community development were also emphasised, the release said.
The training also taught parents about the contributory factors to child abuse and child labour and how to address them, as well as about children’s rights and truancy and how they impact children’s educational development.
The workshop explored initiatives such as the establishment of community parent squads to monitor and report on social issues that are hampering their children’s educational development. They also talked about implementing a mechanism to improve punctuality at schools and influence students’ participation in school activities.
The workshop identified persons to form community parent squads.
At the closing ceremony Lorene Baird, Permanent Secretary at the ministry, reflected on the positive results of traditional parenting, noted the current challenges parents are encountering and encouraged participants to draw on the best practices in the sessions to enhance their skills. She also recalled other government interventions aimed at improving family life.
In his remarks, Chief Education Officer at the Education Ministry Olato Sam stressed the need for enhanced community support in parenting and noted that the formation of community parent squads through the School Retention Programme is a step in the right direction.
Sam also lauded the efforts of 84-year-old Pearl James, a retired teacher of the Kuru Kururu community, who has established a book club there and has been voluntarily teaching literacy to children for 26 years, with the support of her husband Clarence James.
