The Ekiti State Government has threatened to jail parents who refuse to send their children or wards to school.
Governor Kayode Fayemi issued the threat at Emure-Ekiti in Emure Local Government, at the commencement of the “Registration of Pupils” into Kindergarten and Primary One class’’ for 2013/2014 academic session.
According to him, any parent who has a child of school age that is not in school from this day will be arrested and tried under the Child Rights Law 2011.
He said, “Let me use this opportunity to sound this note of warning that any child that is of school age, but who is not in school, when he or she is expected to be there, will be picked up.
“And he will be asked to show agent of government, way to their family home where we will in turn pick up the defaulting parents.
“My government has invested so much in the education sector, and it is our wish that such acts of benevolence will be reciprocated,” Fayemi said.
Fayemi noted that out of over 10 million Nigerian children that were currently not in school in Nigeria, Ekiti had less than 10 per cent.
The governor emphasized that since his administration had declared free and compulsory education at junior school level, no parent had excuse not to support the policy.
He explained that since the future belongs to the younger ones, nothing must be done to truncate what destiny had in stock for them.
The governor reiterated that there was no way he could have become the number one citizen of Ekiti if he had not gone to school.
He said further that his administration is determined to achieve zero percentage.
