According to the ex-officer, she and her co-workers were very shocked when they were informed on Monday that all the Belize District officers, a total of eleven persons, and officers from the Cayo District, four, making a grand total of fifteen, were no longer needed by the Truancy Department.

She explained that in the meeting, they were told that they would get a week?s pay, their salary for the month of July and their severance pay, but there was no guarantee that they would be rehired for the coming new school year, September, 2005.

?They told us that four SLOs would be needed for Belize City, for the coming school year, but that would be a very difficult task for whomever they choose, because it was a small amount to manage all the schools, since they would check the register for absentees and inquire about absentees with teachers and principals of the three schools (each SLO was responsible for at least 3 schools).

Mostly on foot, the officers were responsible for issuing warning letters to parents whose children have been absent, and patrol the areas where the children were known to hang out when they should be in school, the ex-officer explained.

She added that in the termination letter that she received yesterday, advertisement for their posts would be done before the coming school year.

When Amandala spoke to two officials from the Truancy Department, they verified that fifteen of their employees had been terminated, but that the program was not going to be ?wiped out,? but ?revamped.?

According to the officials, the program has to be restructured due to the disciplinary problems that they have been experiencing with the majority of the SLOs. They said that some of the ex-SLOs felt that ?they could do what they wanted, because they were politically appointed.?

The ex-liaison officer told us, however, that most of them had been hired by a Minister about seven years ago, and even though some of them worked well and were dedicated officers, their services were terminated anyhow.

The officials at the Truancy Department said that some of the problems that they had with some of the SLOs were punctuality at the office and the schools; being absent from the schools for which they were responsible; not submitting reports in a timely fashion; and frequent reports of extended sick leave.

One of the officials alleged that yesterday, they nearly called the police after a few of the ex-SLOs had shouted obscenities at them.

According to the officials, the program ?does not have a financial problem,? and they will be hiring additional SLOs for the districts of Stann Creek and Orange Walk.

They also confirmed that the other section of the program, which consists of school wardens, has been performing well and they do not have any intention of terminating it.

One of the officials did say that the four SLOs who were recommended for the Belize District for the coming school year would not be sufficient for the number of schools, and that there is a need for more SLOs, especially since there would be an increase in the enrollment of students at the infant level.