TARAWA (Pacnews) — In recognition of the universally declared Convention for the Rights of a Child, the Kiribati government is looking at standardizing education right up to the age of 18.
This was revealed by Kiribati’s Ministry of Environment and Social Development, which is one of the main bodies advocating the Convention in the country.
“The central government is in the process of implementing this policy and this…shows the commitment of our government in implementing the processes of the Convention for the Rights of a Child,” a senior social officer said.
“Overall, our government has made a lot of progress in realizing the rights of the children and it is a priority in my ministry to take the needs of youths and children into consideration when drawing up strategic plans and policies,” he said.
Kiribati is one of the few Pacific island countries sending a child delegate to the United Nations Special Session on Children to be held in New York from May 8 to 10.
The child delegate is King George V and Elaine Benaki School student Teaeki Tentoa, who was chosen from among the hundreds of high school student at the lone Kiribati high school.
Kiribati’s delegation to the U.N. special session will be led by President Teburoro Tito.
The delegation will also include members of the Foreign Affairs and Social and Environment Ministries.
“We have managed to keep working on the plan that was initially set out from the UNICEF meeting in 1990 and we keep amending it as we go along in order to achieve what government has approved and set out to do,” he said.
