Cape Town - Western Cape pupils who repeatedly skip school without a valid reason could soon receive a visit from a school attendance officer.
Bronagh Casey, the spokeswoman for Education MEC Donald Grant, said regulations published in the Provincial Gazette in December, set out the duties of school attendance officers although details, including how many officers would be appointed, were still being finalised.
She said that department already had 23 fieldworkers whose duties included monitoring pupil truancy, but the school attendance officers would focus only on school attendance.
“We want to ensure that learners are in school on time, prepared and ready, every school day, 201 days a year,” she said. The officers’ duties would include:
* Investigating the circumstances of a pupil’s repeated absence from school without a valid reason.
* Liaising with various departments and law-enforcement agencies in the investigation of cases of repeated absence without a valid reason.
* Offering advice and support to parents to ensure that their children attended school regularly.
* Working with parents and pupils to develop positive attitudes towards school attendance.
* Keeping written records on the school attendance of individual pupils.
* Submitting quarterly reports to principals on the progress made with pupils who were repeatedly absent.
Casey said that the policy on pupil attendance stated that should a child be absent for three consecutive days without explanation, the class teacher had to report this to the principal.
The school should then follow up with parents about the absenteeism. The incident should also be reported to the education department for further follow-up should the pupil still not return to school after seven days.
People can report truant pupils by calling their nearest education district office or the safe schools call centre at 0800 454 647. - Cape Argus