Residents of Bonchari constituency in Kisii County have been urged to ensure they enroll their children to government institutions to curb the rising level of illiteracy in the region.
Speaking at Bomariba ward in the region on Sunday, assembly Majority leader Protus Moindi challenged parents to be more responsible, by ensuring their children receive free primary and subsidized secondary school education.
This comes a few weeks after area administrative chiefs presented a record figure of 250 children, who had attained the age of nine but had never been taken to school.
“When I looked at the record of our children who should be going to school but have never been taken, I was literally shocked. It is the responsibility of parents to ensure that children receive education since it is a requirement,” he said.
Moindi urged the local administration to apprehend parents who were ‘ignorant’, and arraign them in court to face charges over the same.
“Parents who delay or ignorantly fail to take their children to school at an appropriate age are criminals and they must be apprehended and subsequently arraigned in court. This can be done by local administration if at all we want to curb the menace,” he said.
His sentiments were echoed by Majority Whip Henry Moracha, who noted that education standards were diminishing substantially.
“The literacy levels in this county are worsening because parents are yet to discover the importance of education. We can’t allow these to continue and time has come to crack the whip. Definitely, parents have to cooperate,” he said.