Saint Lucia steps up action as truancy rises in schools

Saint Lucia is seeing a rise in truancy in classrooms and the officials are linking the issue to both declining birth rates and increasing student absenteeism.

Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, Philip J. Pierre, said that over 120 students are currently missing from school, with truancy affecting both boys and girls. In response to this the government has decided to increase the number of truancy officers. So now, instead of one truancy officer there will be four truancy officers.

The main task of these officers will be to examine the reason behind the absenteeism of students. They will work with principals, teachers and social workers to determine why students are missing school.

Kenson Casimir, Minister of Education has paid significance to truancy being directly proportional to the declining classroom numbers. Moreover this decline in number compounds the effect of low birth rates, an aging population and emigration.

As per the statistics and proper research, it has been observed that the class sizes have fallen below the count of 15. This number is contrastingly low as compared to the previous class strength numbers, which revolve around the average of 30 students per class.

To curb this issue, the government is planning to implement various measures. One of which includes, as mentioned by Kenson Casimir, that the government will review suspended policies and it intends to repurpose the underused classrooms for special education and technical training.

Furthermore, the government plans to hire more school counselors and behaviour specialists to examine the reason behind absenteeism of students over a consistent period of time using reliable data. Casimir mentioned that the policies will be based on evidence and PM Pierre highlighted the need for statistics to guide solutions.

The officials are also concerned about the students dropping out in Forms Three and Four. Due to this the upcoming budget, which is scheduled to take place on 21st April, 2026 will focus on special education and early childhood programmes.

Many people have shared their views in response to the concerns, some believe that a stricter measure is needed wherein the students who refuse to attend the school should be placed in structured camps or some special facilities should be created for such kinds of students to enforce discipline.