ATTENDANCE officer Andrea Scott is known by her colleagues as being hard, but fair.

Described by her boss as a no nonsense woman, she is not afraid to tackle rude truanting children, aggressive parents, teachers and school secretaries.

She has run into some difficult, even threatening, situations in the last 18 months in her efforts to ensure all children at Government schools arrive on time and according to the educational calendar.

But the young, cool-headed mother believes so strongly in what she is doing, she lets nothing stand in her way.

"I do find it sad sometimes, especially when the children are very young, to see so many children not attending school properly and throwing their education away,'' she said.

"But it is a very satisfying job when you manage to get behind the problem and see children more regularly attending lessons.

"I have had to confront people I consider my friends before over their children's poor attendance, and sometimes they give me a hard time, but I tell them, and everyone else, that I have a job to do, and I will do it.'' Of the students Miss Scott must monitor, she reckons about 80 percent of them are girls.

Many, especially those in middle and senior schools and some as young as 12 and 13, `bunk off' to spend time with their older boyfriends.

The bus depot in Hamilton City is also a favourite haunt of the truants, a place regularly patrolled by the attendance officers.

"When they see us coming, children run away, but I tell them, they can run, but they can't hide,'' she said.

"I have even spotted parents I needed to speak to about their children, and stopped my car to turn around, but when I go back they have disappeared.

"People tend to know who we are now.

"Sometimes it is hard to get some parents to listen, or even to reply to letters.

"However, the majority of parents are very supportive. They are upset to find out their children have been missing school.'' The attendance officers' main role is to monitor attendance at all Government schools via electronic registers that can give print-outs on individual students at the touch of a button.

However, an important part of their job is to educate parents and guardians and to make sure they understand the importance of school rules and procedures.

When problems are perceived, the school is usually the first to write to the parents to inform them and ask for a meeting.

If the absence or lateness continues, the attendance officer then writes to the parent.

Should the problems carry on, parents are asked to attend the education department to meet with attendance officer co-ordinator Leonard (Shinah) Simons.

As a last resort, the parents will be taken to court and fined and put on probation, and may even have their children taken away from them.

There are instances where parents pay no regard to the school timetable whatsoever. One mother last year took her two Primary-age boys to Jamaica for three weeks during term time, without even bothering to inform the school first. That is a common problem. Others leave for work early in the mornings, just expecting their children to get to school on time on their own.

But others are just lazy and fail to get their children out of bed on time, claiming they "can't get their children out of bed''.

Miss Scott continued: "We have had cases of very small children, as young as five or six, getting very upset at school because they know they are late and they know it is wrong, but they rely on their parents getting them there.

"Those cases are very sad. It is not their fault -- yet they are suffering.

"Then we have cases where the children are older and in control of their actions, and when we inform their parents of their poor attendance, they simply try to make excuses for them, saying it's a bus problem, or something.

"I say to them all, there are no excuses. Some mothers have verbally threatened me, but never a father. I tell them I just have to do my job.

"I would say I lost friends when I started doing this job, but I think it has been worth it.'' The reasons children bunk off school are far-reaching. Many just do not like to study and work hard, preferring to stay at home with friends. Many teenaged girls have older boyfriends, which is an incentive to skip school.

But Miss Scott said she believed some also thought because Bermuda had no unemployment, and money was relatively easy to come by, they did not need an education.

She added: "It is very easy for students to get money, and that is bound to have an affect on their willingness to attend school.

But she said the unit needed to get parents on board if the truancy problem was to be eradicated in Bermuda.

She added: "It is bad enough when poor attendance is the fault of the children, but when it is because their parents are irresponsible, it is unforgivable.

"These people need to be addressed. Children deserve the best start in life, and that is what the unit is working towards.

"That is why I don't mind facing rude children, or threatening parents. I know I, my colleagues and the schools, are right and are doing a good job.''