Monday’s report that the Truancy Team of the Inspectorate of Education, Culture Youth and Sports Affairs will increase its visibility is obviously good news. Children simply shouldn’t be permitted to stay out of
the classroom without a valid reason.
The latter not only can lead to more youth delinquency, but in effect encourages others to do the same, thus undermining the system. There is also a reason compulsory education was introduced and – as is the case with most legislation – it requires active enforcement.
Much of the onus obviously rests on the shoulders of parents, hence the current awareness campaign slogan “Are your kids in school today?”
But truth be told, the entire community has a role to play in ensuring that its youngsters are offered an adequate learning environment to develop optimally. After all, those expected to become productive adults tomorrow and eventually take over from the older generation must also be provided with the necessary tools.
Take for example so-called “bag boys” at supermarkets. In Curaçao there are said to be more than 600 “semi-legal” youths who may even have been born on the island yet lack residency papers, most of them packing and carrying groceries at local food stores. However, their immigrant status is not supposed to bar them from getting a proper education in the first place.
St. Maarten too has its share of such cases and that is where the responsibility of businesses comes in. Allowing youths to make an extra dollar from tips in their free time and gain some job experience is fine, but the employers must ensure this does not take place during school hours on weekdays, which actually would make them accomplices in breaking the law.
Some may say a lot of grocery shopping occurs in the morning and early afternoon so that’s when the merchants really need the help, but then they should hire proper personnel. There can be no excuse for knowingly allowing minors to work when they ought to be in the classroom and everyone, including entrepreneurs, has a civic duty to send them to school instead.
