PUTRAJAYA: The government will roll out several measures to address rising dropout rates among secondary school students, said Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The deputy prime minister said among the reasons students were dropping out of school was because they had to work due to family financial problems.
The Education Ministry found that 14,506 secondary school students dropped out last year, or 0.8 per cent of the total number of students.
Zahid said the National Social Council meeting that he chaired earlier today had identified eight improvements to lower the dropout rate.
This included raising awareness on the importance of education to at least to the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia level.
The awareness campaign would be done through print, electronic, and social media.
"Other measures include periodic monitoring of employers of school going children to ensure they complied with prescribed working hours and conditions, setting up vocational training centres and providing counselling to parents and guardians to ensure children under their care continued schooling," he said in speech after chairing the National Social Council meeting here today.
His speech was delivered by Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri.
He said the government would also look into helping families in financial difficulties, which caused students to work.
Zahid said financial assistance would be provided to students based on their needs and place of residence. He said learning spaces would be set up in residential areas, such as in community centres or activity centres.
Zahid said the meeting also agreed that there should be psychosocial support for children with divorced parents.
The National Social Council is the implementing body of the National Social Policy, which is an umbrella framework covering the philosophy and policies of national social development.
