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By ZACHERY PER
THE father of a Grade 5 student wants his son to be prosecuted in the
Goroka District Court.
Buka Biki got the Kwongi-Miruma village court to summon his 13-year-old
son to appear before it yesterday so that he could explain the situation
but the boy did not turn up.
The angry father said he paid K4 to two village peace officers to bring
his son to court but the boy had ran off into the Kwongi Mountains in
Daulo district.
He told the court that his son had been skipping classes for the past
four weeks prompting him to seek instructions from the village court.
“I will pursue further to the District Court and have him prosecuted in
order for him to repent as education is important for his future life,”
Mr Buka said.
He told The National that he only found out about his son’s absenteeism
when he visited the school recently.
“That prompted me to summon my son before the village court to justify
why he should not attend classes,” he said.
The Namta Primary School’s board also summoned other parents with
outstanding school fees to appear before the village court yesterday.
The officials told the parents that they had ignored three notices from
the school to settle the fees.
One parent, Ben Dick, said he did not want to pay the K60 owed because
his son had been stealing the coffee cherries that he would pick to pay
and sell to pay for his fees.
He and the others were given until the end of the month to make payment.
Goroka Catholic Diocese Education Secretary Patrick Iyeho said it was
the parents’ responsibility to pay the fees.
“Your failure to honour your responsibilities to the children is a slap
in the face for your own children,” he said.
He said the Government had provided subsidies but parents had failed on
their part and were depriving children their right to education.
 
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