BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

TEACHERS are urged to actively engage with parents and village consultative councils to discuss issues on improving students attendance.

This was said by Desmond Lim King Wee, the Legal Counsel and Education Officer of the Ministry of Education’s (MoE) Director General Education Office during a meeting with the ministry’s Welfare and Miftaahun Najaah Unit and teachers yesterday.

“We genuinely want to engage with parents to work together with the school and the village council. If the parents do not take responsibility on their children’s attendance, we will not hesitate to take action,” he said.

The issue was raised yesterday in light of the rise in absentees among students nationwide in recent years, according to the latest statistics from the MoE.

“The cases vary from one student to another; some cases (of absenteeism) are due to bullying, transportation problems and financial deprivation, among others,” said Desmond in an exclusive interview with The Brunei Times.

The Ministry has announced that all primary schools must aim for a 95 per cent pupil attendance rate beginning February this year.

“As of now, some schools have achieved the target, but there are other schools that are still working towards reaching the target,” Desmond said, adding that different schools have different cases of absenteeism among their students.

He said that attendance is essential for students to achieve above a ‘C’ grade on their Primary School Assessment (PSR) examinations.

Desmond said that the Miftaahun Najaah Unit provides various initiatives such as provide counselling with students and parents, financial aid as well as hostel accommodation.

Held at the Lambak Kiri Secondary School, the meeting saw some 200 MoE personnel discussing issues concerning students attendance and welfare as well as the Compulsory Education Act 2003.

A presentation on the importance of attendance was also delivered by one of the senior education officers, Hjh Mal Hafida Hj Abdul Malik.

The Brunei Times