COMPULSORY EDUCATION ACT (Counselling teams)

Ms Braema Mathiaparanam asked the Minister for Education, in view of the implementation of the Compulsory Education Act in 2003 and the completion of Primary 1 Registration at the end of this month (a) how many volunteers and officers are on the team to counsel parents who are not eager to register their children into schools; (b) what is the composition of this team and their experience in counselling; (c) what is the nature of training that the team has received; (d) when will the team start its work in assessing reluctant parents; and (e) when will it make its final recommendation to the Ministry for further action.

The Senior Minister of State for Education (Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam) (for the Minister for Education): Mr Speaker, Sir, there are measures already in place to trace parents who do not register their children in school. At the end of the Primary 1 School Registration Exercise, children who were born six years earlier, and who have not registered with national schools are first identified. Letters will be sent to their parents to inquire on the reasons for non-registration. Where there is no response, officers (these are not counsellors) will be assigned to trace these children. These officers will try their best to find the families based on the information available. This will include house visits. The officers will investigate the reasons behind their non-registration. If the parents have financial or domestic problems, they will be advised to approach the CDCs for further assistance. From our past experience, however, such cases are not prevalent. There was an average of less than 10 such cases over the last few years.

With the introduction of Compulsory Education in 2003, actions will not stop at tracking the children and referring the family to community organisations. A parent who still does not register his child for Primary One will be counselled. MOE does not have a standing pool of its own Counsellors to undertake this task. The Ministry will instead engage qualified counsellors from community organisations, like the Family Service Centres and the Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWOs), to undertake the counselling. If counselling, and repeat counselling does not work, and all efforts at helping the parent fail, he will then be referred to the Compulsory Education Board. The Board will review the case, and can decide to call the parent to the Board, send the parent for further counselling, or refer the case to the Director General of Education who is empowered under the Compulsory Education Act to raise a complaint to the Subordinate Courts for legal action.

Ms Braema Mathiaparanam: Sir, how would the Ministry's officers, as well as their counsellor staff, be tracking these parents? Is there a registry that is being used to know where these parents and the children are?

Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam: Mr Speaker, Sir, the Ministry seeks to track the parents based on all available information. It is not always possible to track the parents down. Some may have left the country, some are no longer at their last registered address. But the Ministry has been able to track the majority of the parents of children who have not registered in the past.

Ms Braema Mathiaparanam: Sir, could I have the answer to part (e) of Question No. 5, ie, when will the team make its final recommendation to the Ministry for further action, please? Is there a time-frame?

Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam: Mr Speaker, Sir, there is no fixed timeframe. How long we take to work with and counsel the parents depends on the particularities of each case.