The Office of the Commissioner for Children expressed its dismay that its recent appeal to the Ministry for Education and the teachers’ union to respect the fundamental rights of children to education and to have their best interests prioritised has been ignored.

This is painfully evident in the latest developments where the Union of Professional Educators (UPE) is now objecting to the redeployment of fully fletched student-teachers to schools where there are teacher shortages and seems to be resisting any attempt at finding a reasonable and workable solution.

In a statement, the office reiterated that in an emergency situation like the one faced by children and the education sector for almost the past two years, unions in particular need to be responsible by collaborating with rather than confronting one another in order to find the best solutions to guarantee children their education rights.

Children should not be caught in the crossfire between stakeholders. The pandemic, which has already of itself caused great damage to children’s education, should be a time of industrial truce not warfare. The Office also reiterates its appeal for children’s rights to be given legal force and judicial representation, without which they are easy prey to empty rhetoric and narrow sectoral interests