Next week, all students will be going back to school after more than two months of holidays. The statistics for the new school-year look good: 17,300 children are expected to enter Form I. 97% of them have already been enrolled in a school.

This year is said to be special as it marks the beginning of compulsory attendance at school until the age of sixteen according to the bill voted by the National Assembly last 23rd November. The minister of education qualified it as ?historical.?

If the initiative undoubtedly sounds laudable, the ways of implementing the measures seem to be vague so far. The minister asserts that briefings will be held with teachers and managers of schools to explain to them what has to be done if a child is away from school for a long time. Steven Obeegadoo reassured both parents and teachers by saying that 2005 will be a ?year of transition?. The new system will be on trial.

First, the rectors will have to follow cases of all students to check if all the pupils enrolled on the ministry?s official list attend classes. If a student is away from school for a specific period of time, then the school will have to notify the ministry. Finally, if the ministry doesn?t find any solution to the problem, a national steering committee will be set up with NGOs, ministries and social representatives, and will be given the task of tackling the issue. The authorities thus seem quite prepared to deal with problems they might have with students following the ?normal stream.? However, one important question remains unanswered: if students are legally obliged to go to school until the age of sixteen, what has been planned for pupils, who do not fit into the normal stream?

Some pupils have failed the Certificate of Primary Education twice and others have been expelled from school because of indiscipline. In any case, there are students who are obviously not able to enter the academic field. These children are only 11 or 12 and the authorities have to set up a special section for them until they catch up with the other students and can return to main- stream classes or until they find their own feet. ?We are continuing our consultations,? the minister says.