Truancy rate is decreasing. A new approach by the Ministry of Education is responsible. “Operation CARE” has replaced truancy campaigns and it is showing results.Chief Welfare Officer, Gillian VyphuisChief Schools’ Welfare Officer, Gillian Vyphuis, disclosed that CARE is the acronym for Collect, Advise,Cheap NFL Jerseys, Respond and Educate with the campaign designed to help children and their families.Vyphius said that the Ministry’s School Welfare Department is carrying out, “Operation CARE” campaigns once a week in all regions and that the campaigns are guided by monthly reports on students’ attendance.“Each month all schools would submit an absentee report for all the children that would have (been) absent for at least five times for the month… When we would have received those reports we would actually send warning letter (to parents) and also inviting them to the school’s welfare department,China NFL Jerseys, so that we can discuss the reasons for the absences,” Vyphuis explained.She disclosed that if the parent fails to show, the department would visit the home, accompanied by representatives from the school, the Ministry of Social Protection and the Guyana Police Force.Vyphuis further explained that the presence of the police is for protection as there have been instances where Welfare Officers were abused. Teachers are included to help identify the home of the student while the Ministry of Social Protection is included to address socioeconomic issues that may be preventing the child from attending school.Vyphuis noted that there were cases where the child or the parent may claim that they do not have uniforms.She said in such case, the department makes use of a “care barrel” that it has created. “We would have stuff like uniforms in there and when the parent would visit our department after the campaign, if there are available uniforms that they can utilise we would give it to them,Jerseys NFL Wholesale,” Vyphius said.However, in cases where the parents face more serious financial constraints, the department would refer them to the Probation and Welfare Department of the Ministry of Social Protection for public assistance.In addition to visiting the home of students,Cheap Authentic NFL Jerseys, the Schools’ Welfare Department has also been conducting weekly checks of bus parks and market areas for students.According to Vyphuis, these exercises have focused primarily on Georgetown and Region Six and they are having positive results.“Since we are carrying out these campaigns once per week, we find that it (absenteeism) has minimised. We do not find a lot of students out of schools when we go on these campaigns,” Vyphuis said.In carrying out the checks of the bus parks and market places, Vyphuis explained that the department would collect the children and then call in the parent to discuss the reason for the child’s absence from school.The Education Act 39:01, states that parents can be charged or fined if their child has unexcused absences from school. However, Vyphuis said this is the “last resort.”“That is why we call our campaigns now,Jerseys NFL Cheap, “Operation CARE” because, in some cases you might charge a parent and they go before a court of law and they just pay a fine and some parents might just think it is ok. So what we would normally do is work with the parent or the family so that they can have their children in school,” the Chief Schools’ Welfare Officer explained.