Students living in housing schemes have the worst attendance rate

Aaron Wong
BELAIT

STUDENTS living in the national housing schemes have one of the worst attendance rates in the country, according to Ministry of Education (MoE) data collected from January to March this year.

Acting Director-General of Education Hj Abd Rahim Hj Derus said the findings – made known by records collected by the new Integrated National Education Information System (iNEIS) – would be researched by MoE to allow for remedial action to be taken.

“We cannot say for sure what the reason (for absenteeism in resettlement housing) is at this moment, as we have yet to do research,” said the acting director-general yesterday on the sidelines of a meeting with the District Office and Belait grassroots leaders.

“The findings are based on data collected from the first school term of 2015 from students living in resettlement housing and schools located near these housing areas. The same trend is noted in all districts.”

According to statistics listed during the briefing, only 41 per cent of government primary schools have an attendance rate of 95 per cent and above.

Based on visits by officers from the Department of Schools’ Student Welfare Unit to resettlement housing areas, Hj Abd Rahim said a “mindset” problem was the likely cause for poor attendance, over practical reasons such as a lack of transport or poor health.

“The majority (of absenteeism) is because of mentality. Some genuinely do not have transport, but there are cases where the distance from home to school is only one kilometre, and yet they are still not going to school,” he said.

Hj Abd Rahim also revealed separately in his briefing that during these visits by officers, students were often found sleeping during school hours.

“In some visits, both parents and older siblings were at home, while the children were still sleeping late in the morning. In this aspect, parents should not spoil their children so much and make sure that they go to bed on time so they can be ready for school in the morning,” he said.

Minister of Education Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Kerna Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Hj Awg Abu Bakar Hj Apong earlier this year said effective February 10, a 95 per cent attendance rate will be measured as a key performance indicator for schools.

The total number of students absent in government schools has also increased from January to March.

About four per cent out of the total number of students at government schools were absent in January, followed by 5.1 per cent of students in February, rising further to 5.8 per cent in March.

According to the director-general, the primary reason behind the increasing absence is students and parents seeking to add to the period of days off from public holidays and school term breaks.


Sumber - The Brunei Times