Parents' backing needed for Education Order to work

AS NEWS broke on Wednesday of the Education Order which will be set in place to see kids stay in school, at least for a reasonable period of time, some Bruneians felt somewhat relieved that parents are now held accountable for the attendance of their children at schools.

Primarily set up to strengthen the Ministry of Education's policy of seeing children in Brunei Darussalam attain education from the basic primary level through to secondary school, the order inadvertently prevents children from being taken advantage of or made to work by errant parents when they should be encouraged to focus on their studies.

Two weeks ago I was caught by surprise when a child, who could not have been more than 11 or 12 years old asked me for money in the capital. Others had also bumped into the young boy, sometimes accompanied with a companion, a sidekick of some sorts.

At times, a chance meeting would take place during the late afternoons, but on one occasion, whilst running several errands in the morning, I was one of those to come across the spirited beggar.

He was noticed earlier in the morning because it had seemed as if he was walking in a hurry, as if he had some place to be.

Curiously for the particular time of day the shops had barely begun to open and offices would have only done away with their coffee rounds. Upon returning to my car following a final stop at an ATM machine before the surprise actually took place. Stood in his faded football jersey shirt, wearing a cap and shorts which were somewhat too big for him, he knocked on my car window. He proceeded to move his hands to his neck, before making a 'one' gesture with his index finger and then signalling that he would like to have a drink. This young boy was asking for money and it was some thing of a shock. After some seconds had passed, I wound the window down and asked "shouldn't you be in school, now?" A wry smile was offered before he scampered off, across the street and into a row of shop houses. The bumper to bumper traffic meant that he would not have to face a further line of questioning.

After asking various shops in the vicinity it came to be known that the young boy, has been spotted travelling around various shopping precincts, asking for money before being picked up by a car, presumably to head home.

Similarly another incident occurred some years ago when young children were seen to be dropped off at shops or popular locations at odd times during the day, before being picked up again later on. One acquaintance had the opportunity to talk to the children, they however would not talk back.

Queries as to where their parents were and why they were out so late at night were just met with a yielding silence and since they were not doing anything wrong, my friend was just as helpless as they.

The new Order dictates that if the child that I had come across was born after January 1, 2002, his parents would have to ensure that he is indeed in school while class is in session.

Otherwise a fine not exceeding $5,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both would be meted out.

While this only means that they should be in school during school hours, the results desired by the Ministry of Education should be forthcoming.

Parents must not only ensure that their children stay in school during school hours, but the onus is further now on them so that good study habits are cultivated from home.

Only then will the real merits of any obligation to education be truly garnered but not without the total support from each parent.

The Brunei Times