Local News
Inner City Youth Alive takes on student absenteeism in Manitoba with new film
Absenteeism in Manitoba schools is an issue that often goes unnoticed. For the past eight years, Kent Dueck, founder and executive director of Inner City Youth Alive and his team have been actively trying to address the issue of students not attending school, going as far as to assemble a provincial task force. "We got the task force going, produced some research at a cost of a little over $100,000 and did some marketing in advance of the election and really couldn't get anything done," said Dueck. .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } Since then, the team at ICYA decided to take the information they had and turn it into a new, powerful documentary called Absent. "We decided about four months ago we would tell the whole story, and we would shine a bright light on this topic because one of the problems has been that both governments have tried to suppress and push this down." Dueck hopes that by placing their message on the big screen, it will reach the entire community. "This issue is so challenging that it's going to need justice to kick in. It's going to need families to kick in at the Department of Education, obviously and actual boots on the ground. It'll also require the community teachers and staff," said Dueck. "We just want to put the message out there. I don't think anyone will hate it, but it's a hard message and hard to watch." While Dueck claims 71 percent absenteeism in the Winnipeg School Division schools, the Chief Superintendent, Matt Henderson, is claiming 6 percent. "It's quite a disparity," said Dueck. "I think it's time we take a different approach." Kent hopes that by releasing this documentary, we can reshape the culture and education with honesty and impunity. Building relationships and building trust among the community," said Dueck. "Some things are as new as they are old." Absent by Inner City Youth Alive and Roots Visuals premieres on October 1 at Jubilee Place at 181 Riverton Avenue. Admission is free. However, registration is required. Tickets can be found here.