The Education Ministry does not have any regulation in place at the moment to take those parents to task who are not ensuring that their children are in school every day.
Major components of education costs for parents have been paid by the government to schools this year however Fijivillage has noticed some children of school age still roaming around during school hours.
Checks conducted last week revealed some students of primary and middle secondary school age playing games at some gaming centres during school hours.
This was noticed from the opening day of school and at times we noticed these children with their parents.
We asked Permanent Secretary for Education Doctor Brij Lal what steps can be taken as some of the students are not in school.
Doctor Lal said since taxpayers are paying for children’s education, they have a right to inform police and the Ministry of Education about this issue.
When questioned by Fijivillage, Doctor Brij Lal said the ministry is yet to decide on further steps relating to holding parents accountable for not sending their children to school.
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The government has allocated $34 million for free education from Year 1 to 8.
Schools are receiving $250 a year per child to cover the full cost of tuition.
This is a dramatic increase from the $30 per child that was being given by Government in previous years.
This is an initiative that will benefit the parents and families of 136,000 primary school children.
For secondary schools, the government is providing $31.5 million for tuition fees.
Forms 3 and 4 will attract a tuition payment of $440 per student, Forms 5 and 6 will attract a payment of $485 per student and Form 7 will attract a payment of $610 per student.
This will benefit the parents and families of 66,000 secondary school students.
Story by: Vijay Narayan
Feature
No regulation to take parents to task
