The President of the National Commission for the Rights of the Child (KNDL), Commissioner Adalgiza Ximenes said the number of the children involved in criminal activities is on the increase and this is because families are failing to adequately educate their children.
She explained the role of the KNDL is to provide advocacy to society and to parents about the rights of children but an honest education comes foremost from the family.
“When we see children involved in such cases [crimes] we ask them what have their parents done given they only spend a couple of hours at schools and the rest of their time with them. So education must be given first by the family,” said Commissioner Ximenes.
The Commissioner acknowledges the government has also not done enough to ensure children get a good education at school but the family is also responsible for their education so they become good citizens.
Based on KNDL’s monitoring, currently there are 25 children incarcerated at the Becora Prison as opposed to 2012 when they monitored 20 children.
Most of these children are incarcerated for committing serious crimes including sexual violence, sexual abuse and homicide.
Meanwhile the Chief of the Department of Research of the State Secretary for the promotion of Equality (SEPI), Herminio Xavier, agrees families, especially parents must to better to educate children and not just rely on the formal education system.
“We call on the parents to not only expect children go to school to get educated by the teachers and that they take charge over educating their own children,” he said.
