Lugari Deputy County Commissioner’s Moses Gicharu has warned that they will arrest parents whose children are out of school for depriving them of their right to education.
Speaking on Thursday at Muungano market in the newly created Marakusi location during the inauguration ceremony for Edith Ayodi Khakali as Marakusi location chief and Jairus Kamidi as the assistant chief for the newly created Manyonyi Sub Location, raised concerns over the high number of children not in school in the area with most of them turning out to witness the inauguration event in civilian clothes despite being a school day.
He said it was regrettable that for the last five years secondary schools in the entire Sub County have failed to register a single grade A plain in KCSE examinations with most of primary schools also hardly registering a mean score of 250 marks a situation he said was caused by high number of absenteeism.
He said despite the national government giving free primary and secondary education, with the County government also offering free Early Childhood Education, it was disheartening to see dozens of school age going children aimlessly loitering in trading centers and village streets during school hours.
He warned that the act will not be tolerated, urging parents to take full responsibility of ensuring that their children go and stay in schools as required by law.
“We have realized that there are many children who do not go to school without any reason. I want to warn you that Kenyan law states clearly that every child has the right to go to school and therefore any parent who will be found not sending his or her child to school will be arrested and charged for denying them right to education,’’ warned Gicharu.
He said it was disappointing that some of the children after registering for the national examinations disappeared from schools only to return to sit the exam, a move he said negatively impacted on the mean score.
Gicharu’s sentiments were echoed by the Sub County Police Commander Bernard Ngungu who said parents were ruining their children’s lives with the risk of indulging in drug and substance abuse and other criminal activities by not taking up their parental obligations.
He encouraged parents to take their children to school which is free, for them to study like the rest of the children in the Republic and compete favorably for job opportunities.
Speaking after being inaugurated, Edith and Jairus promised to serve residents diligently without biasness and ensure government policies are fully implemented in their area of jurisdiction with the DCC urging residents to accord them the respect they deserve.
