Out-of- School children: Ekiti govt. to prosecute erring parents

From Idowu Abdullahi, Lagos

The Governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi, has said parents who keep their school-age children out of school in the state risk being prosecuted.
This is coming as he also stressed that the State’s Child’s Right law provides that all children must be given access to education.
Recall that the state government, had last week, commenced school enrollment drive aimed at ensuring that all school-age children register for the forthcoming 2019/2020 academic session.
Speaking in Eporo, Emure Ekiti during the sensitization programme, Dr Fayemi, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Olayinka Oyebode, called on all parents and guardians to key into the free education programme of his administration, adding that education is not only free but compulsory in the state.
He noted that it is an abuse of Child’s Right for any parent or guardian to deny school-age children the opportunity to go to school.
“We have a Child’s Right Act in Ekiti which prohibits parents from disallowing children of school age to be out of school during school session. If your child is not in school when the school is in session, you have a lot to explain because we will apprehend the child whether he is found hawking on the street or engaging in any illicit activities which prevent the child from being in school.
“The parents will have to explain to the government or the relevant institutions why that child is not in school. In order to ensure that we implement that law, we have a family court in the state that takes responsibility for children that are not in school and parents who fail their responsibility”, he said.