Parents who gamble while kids on streets ‘irresponsible’

Highlands

Kundiawa Gembogl MP William Gogl Onglo has labelled as irresponsible the actions of parents who go out gambling while their children are on the streets selling.
“We have to lock up these parents and guardians because it is child abuse and against the human rights laws,” he said at the presentation of K5000 to the University of Papua New Guinea Kundiawa Gembogl Students’ Association recently.
He said irresponsible parenting deprived children of education.
“They are simply stopping them from attending school and getting an education,” he said.
“How can these children be out of the classrooms and vending goods and doing other household chores when education was free in the country?
“We have to apprehend their parents and guardians, lay appropriate charges and lock them up to teach them a lesson.”
Onglo said the district of Kundiawa Gembogl regarded education as a priority and supported tertiary students with tuition-fee subsidies.
He said the district had distributed more than K1 million in tuition-fee assistance to education institutions around the country. The money came from the District Service Improvement Programme funds.
“Primary and secondary school students are already supported by the national Government’s free-education policy, therefore, my administration will provide school-fee support for tertiary students from the district attending various institutions around the country,” Onglo said.