Parents who make their underage school going children engage in casual labour will be arrested and taken to court.
Bomet county commissioner Beverly Opwora told KNA on Saturday some parents have been making their children harvest tea, do casual labour, operate boda bodas and do other work.
Child labour is against the law.
Opwara said government officials were on high alert, even in the remotest parts of the region and will not hesitate to arrest parents and others involved in child labour.
“It has come to our attention that some parents are engaging their school going children in manual jobs, which is against the laws of this country, " she said.
She said the county security team would patrol the entire county.
"Any parent found culpable will face the full force of the law," pwora said.
The Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut),Bomet branch recently said child labour was undermining education standards.
Opwora urged parents to send children to school, saying child labour was harmful, regressive and a violation of both the Children's Act and the Education Act of Kenya.
“Any parent doing this is not only disregarding the two Acts, but also depriving children their right to education, “she said.
The government has invested heavily funding free primary and day school education so every Kenyan child can get an education.
The county commissioner also cautioned parents against allowing school going children to operate boda bodas.
“We have been conducting public forums to sensitise residents on the importance of educating their children, to make them better leaders for tomorrow.
"We are urging you to stop child labour. If you fail to listen, the law will finally catch up with you," Opwora warned.
Meanwhile, chiefs in Konoini subcounty have rescued a number of children from highland tea farms and enrolled them back to school.
(Edited by V. Graham)
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