BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – PARENTS in St. Kitts and Nevis may have to go back to school with the introduction of compulsory parent education mandated in the White Paper for Education Policy.
The White Paper deals with a wide array of issues including sports, after-school programmes, technical and vocational education, accreditation and early childhood development. The inclusion of mandatory parent education was announced yesterday (Mar. 25) by Minister of Education the Hon. Sam Condor.
While there is currently no law that forces parents or expectant parents to attend parenting classes, the Education Minister admitted there are also intentions to raise the level of legal culpability for parents who have delinquent children.
He however noted that in order for such a step to be taken, there would need to be considerable liaison with the Legal Department, Probation Officers and the Ministry of Social Development.
“A lot of the problems faced by misguided youth can be addressed through parenting, but the Ministry has encountered difficulties in dealing with the present set of parents. It would be very difficult for us to legislate parent education but it is something we are seriously considering.
“We all agree that parents need to be held accountable. Therefore, societal input is crucial if this project is to gain a solid footing. We need the people of the country to tell us the sanctions they feel should be taken against parents of these delinquent youth,” Condor asserted.
Ron Collins, a Guidance Counsellor at the Basseterre High School, praised the move.
“Too many parents don’t come to meetings or are not in contact with schools about their children. Mandatory parent education would raise the capacity of parents, especially teenage mothers, to instil discipline and guide their children in the right way,” said Collins.
The Guidance Counsellor is also in favour of greater parental responsibility under the law, but noted that measures would have to be undertaken to ensure that parents who have tried their best but still have delinquent children would not be punished arbitrarily.
At today’s (Mar. 26) convening of the National Assembly, the White Paper will be laid before the Honourable House for perusal. Once it is passed by Parliament, the document will become the nation’s central education policy until 2020.
