Irresponsible parents face legal measures

IDDY MWEMA

THE government has warned that it will take legal measures against parents or guardians who will not take their children to school. It has insisted that every child must have access to education, which is to be issued free of charge effective January next year.

Free education is one of the measures advocated by the Fifth Phase Government under President John Magufuli to ensure that every girl and boy across the country get education without any excuse. The Attorney General, Mr George Masaju, issued the warning in Dar es Salaam at the graduation ceremony held at Feza Schools Grounds in the city during the weekend.

He stressed that legal measures will instantly be taken against irresponsible parents and guardians proved to be holding back the president’s efforts towards having a literate society.

“Causing a child to drop from school for any reason is a criminal offence because you offend his fundamental right of being educated according to our constitution and other international treaties,” he elaborated.

He further said that the government is eager to provide equal and quality education to all citizens to fight against ignorance, which is among the three big national enemies as mentioned by the nation’s founder, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, others being poverty and disease.

“The government has always invested on education and encouraged other stakeholders and development partners to also do so as Feza Schools have done to help provide better and quality education as the government has always insisted,” he added.

The attorney general congratulated the management of Feza Schools for upholding the right to worship to the student, urging both private and government schools to adhere to the right to worship as enshrined in the constitution.

He said legal action will be taken against a school, which will deny its students the right of worship. Earlier, the schools’ management urged the government to include a subject on morals and ethics in the curricula system, noting that such virtues contributed to their best performance each year.

The students were urged to use the knowledge and skills acquired to find solutions to the nation’s challenges.