The Nasarawa State Government is considering the establishment of mobile courts to prosecute parents who fail to send their school-age children to school, as part of measures to tackle the growing number of out-of-school children in the state.
The Senior Special Assistant to Governor Abdullahi Sule on Public Affairs, Peter Ahemba, disclosed this during his bi-monthly media briefing in Lafia.
Ahemba said the government had directed the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) to begin an advocacy campaign across the state to ensure that children of school age who are currently out of school return to the classroom.
He said SUBEB would collaborate with the state Ministry of Justice to explore the establishment of mobile courts to handle cases involving parents who fail to ensure that their children attend school.
According to him, the government would first embark on advocacy and sensitisation before beginning full enforcement of the policy.
Ahemba said a task force would subsequently be established to monitor the streets during school hours and identify school-age children found outside school.
He explained that the task force would trace the parents of such children, who could then be arrested and handed over for prosecution for failing to send them to school.
“Because at the end of that advocacy tour by the State Universal Basic Education Board to ensure that our children of school age who are not in school are back to school, after that grace period of advocacy, government will now commence full enforcement.
“There will be a task force that will be charged with the responsibility to go around the streets. When such children are identified during school hours, they will be held to identify their parents.
“By the time they identify their parents, those parents will now be arrested and handed over for prosecution for failure to send their children to school,” he said.
Ahemba said the initiative was aimed at ensuring that no child in Nasarawa State was denied the opportunity to acquire education, adding that the government was also providing educational materials to support families and encourage school enrolment.
He disclosed that SUBEB had procured more than 10,000 exercise books, school uniforms and sandals, among other learning materials, for distribution to pupils in public schools across the state.
Meanwhile, Ahemba said the state government had concluded the recruitment of 1,000 primary school teachers through SUBEB to strengthen manpower in public schools, particularly in rural areas.
He said Governor Sule had directed that the 1,000 successful candidates be released for immediate employment.
According to him, more than 10,000 applications were received for the recruitment, but the board selected the 1,000 successful candidates based on merit.
He said the government ensured that the selection process was conducted without sentiment or other considerations.
