Public must uphold children’s right to education without fail

Editor, The Government of Rwanda has put in place numerous measures to achieve children’s rights in different spheres. In as regards ensuring rights to education, for example, it has made primary education free and universal so that no child can be deprived of the right to attend school. In health care, there is free pre- and post-natal care for women besides the communal health insurance scheme, Mutuelle de Sante, just like the Gir’inka programme that has ensured that children, even from the poorest family, get milk to help alleviate malnutrition and related ailments. Despite all that, many citizens have not taken stock of the government’s efforts as they continue to deprive children of their basic rights. I am an educator in the countryside and often do meet children during school hours heading to their parents’ farms. When I sought to know why this happens despite the commitment by government to see that all children get basic education at no cost, the excuse is always heaped on poverty. Citizens should play a leading role in upholding all children’s rights. In the Ministry of Gender and Family Protection’s Strategic Plan for the Integrated Child Rights Policy in Rwanda (2011-2016), guided by the 1989 four general principles of Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), government outlined its commitment of ensuring that children’s rights are upheld and how to achieve them. It is in context that citizens report to the relevant authorities those who abuse children’s rights either through child labour or sexual exploitation. In the country’s Vision 2020, and even Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) whose target year is 2015 (on the doorstep), education is a priority since it is one avenues through which to accelerate a nation’s economic growth. Children’s education should be a priority to parents and guardians because children are not only leaders of tomorrow, but their rights should be respected too. Local governments should be stricter with parents and guardians who deny their children right to education. Barack Oduor, Rwanda

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Public must uphold children’s right to education without fail