Children not attending school a growing problem in Moratuwa: Sources
View(s):The failure of children to attend school due to various commitments still remains a problem, Education sources disclosed.
Reports of children’s failure to attend classes due to domestic issues, as well as children being forced help in their parents’ professions remain an unresolved issue.
Some of the children are used in farming activities, fishing industry, plantation sector and other industrial professions.
In one of the revelations made recently, it was revealed that some children in the coastal region of Moratuwa are not attending school continuously.
“We have identified that there are approximately 145 children who are not attending school continuously and are working to bring them to school,” an official said.
The main reason for not attending school is that when both parents go to work at 5 am, the older children stay home to take care of their younger siblings, Divisional Education Director (Moratuwa) M Lilanthi Perera said.
She said Moratuwa needs a residential school to avoid this situation.
The Divisional Director of Education (Moratuwa) made these comments while addressing the Moratuwa Coordinating Committee meeting held recently under committee chairman and Minister of Justice and National Integration, Harshana Nanayakkara.
She also said that education should be the main thing for Moratuwa children. Lack of education is an obstacle to the development of Moratuwa.
“We investigated the reasons why children do not attend school, and among the reasons revealed was that there was no one to check whether the children went to school when the parents went to work,” she said.
The parents leave home in the morning, come back home in the evening, and the older children stay at home to look after their younger siblings.
Moratuwa also needs a daycare centre, which will enable older children to go to school. Children are not attending school at a time when numbers are decreasing.
Revelations have been made that the issue is similar in other coastal areas where child labour is made use of while in the agricultural areas the problem of school children dropping from classes is reported during the harvest seasons.
- Rekha Tharangani Fonseka
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