Over 1000 children in Mtwara and Lindi regions have been sent to work in mining sites and other places to supplement household incomes this despite repeated government warning and threats of legal action.
Five months after school resumed in January, no any parent or guardian who has been brought before the law.
Deputy Minister, Prime Minister's Office, Regional Administration and Local Government (Education) Kassimu Majaliwa issued another warning and again ordered that the children be sent to school.
The government order follows recent reports by Namungo village Chairman Hamisi Mfaume who said parents and guardians there are violating their children’s rights opting to send them to mining sites among other economic activities that they do instead of sending them to school.
“There are more than 1000 children in this village who don’t go to school and are instead forced by their parents to work in the mines,” the village Chairman had informed the minister. A concerned villager, Somoe Mshamu urged the government to prioritise the matter saying:
“I think the government is delaying to take action yet years are going back and we are loosing our children to the mine.”
First lady Salma Kikwete who toured Lindi and underscored the need for parents and guardians to send all school-age going children to school.
Mtwara Regional Authorities some 2,874 of 12,023 pupils who passed primary school finals exams in 2013 are yet to report to their assigned secondary school.
To date however no any parent or guardian has been brought before the law for denying their children this fundamental right that will determine not only their future but that of the entire nation.
No comments:
Post a Comment