By personal writer
Chief Chungu of the Yaba people of Lupososhi city urged parents and guardians in her chiefdom to use the government’s free education policy by taking their children to school.
Chief Chungu said that with the free education policy in place, no child should miss going to school.
“Previously, some parents and guardians gave the excuse of lack of money for not taking their children to school, but later they married them off, a situation which she says should be a thing of the past, the lack money will no longer be a reason why a parent cannot send their child to school because education is free from grades 1 to 12,” she said.
Chief Chungu has since encouraged parents to find other ways to find school requirements such as uniforms and books, saying what the government has done means a lot.
“I have put in place laws in his chiefdom to prevent parents from marrying off their children at an early age and that the advent of the free education policy will strengthen his fight against child marriage, people in the areas rural people can still engage in agricultural activities so that they raise money to buy some of the school needs as school fees were the challenge for them,” she said.
According to the statutes, anyone found to be in default is subjected to hard labor, known locally as “Milima Chipuba”, a move she says has helped tackle child marriages in the chiefdoms.
