Bayelsa Govt Vows To Imprison Parent Who Fails To Send Child to School

The Bayelsa State Government has vowed to arrest and prosecute any parent who refuses to send his child to school to acquire formal education.

This was sequel to the signing into the Compulsory Primary and Secondary Education Law by the State Governor Seriake Dickson.

The Commissioner for Education, Jonathan Obuebite, after a meeting by the State Executive Council said that with the signing of the bill into law, every child of school age must be enrolled in any of the various model schools in the state.

“The law will be fully implemented. We want to thank Governor Dickson for his assent and members of the State Assembly for passing it into law. Clearly the law is to demonstrate our commitment to education in the state,” he said.

Justifying the government’s huge investment in the education sector, he said, “We have spent over N70 bn building and equipping our schools. Today, we have quality infrastructure and facilities across our schools in every local government area. We feel it is important to have this law to protect that investment.

He added that the law will further boost primary healthcare delivery in the state while on the other hand, the new Primary Health care Development Board will have the responsibility of coordinating and managing all health facilities in every community.

Obuebite therefore, warned that the parents or guardians of any child seen hawking or loitering during school hours would be dealt with as enshrined in the new law.