WHEN counselling parents who do not register their children for school, social workers emphasise the importance of education.

Ms Sue Cheng, director of the research and outreach centre at the Singapore Children's Society, which the Ministry of Education engages in a bid to get such parents to change their minds, gave one example of a widow with young children of school-going age.

The woman had been forced to sell her flat when she could no longer service the housing loan, Ms Cheng said. She took her children with her and stayed with friends who took them in for short-term stays.

Since the family did not have a permanent home, it was difficult for the children to attend school.

When the society first stepped in, said Ms Cheng, it advised the mother to put the children in a home so they could go to school.

But the woman refused, and was adamant about keeping her children with her.

But after counselling by social workers who explained the need for the children to get an education, the mother relented and agreed to put them in a home, while she concentrated on working to save for a rental flat.

Ms Cheng said the children were also counselled subsequently and told that the separation would be temporary and was the best option, given their circumstances.

The children have since gone back to school and their mother visits them weekly.

JANE NG

This article was first published in The Straits Times.