The government has launched a crackdown on parents who have not taken their children to school in Tana Delta Sub-County, Tana River County.

This is after recording a dismal school enrollment with some of the 19 secondary schools in the area admitting only one form one student since the reporting date begun.

Mr Frederick Mwirigi, the Tarasaa Division Assistant County Commissioner, announced the crackdown during a Garsen National Government Constituency Development Fund (NGCDF) bursary allocation exercise at Tarasaa High School, warning parents that they risked arrest if they did not take their children to school.

Mwirigi argued that the national government had already released the school capitation and that no parent should have an excuse of failing to take their children to school.

His sentiments were echoed by the Tana Delta Director of Education Faisal Obbo who cautioned parents that failure to take their children to school would amount to a criminal offence.

He said that some schools in the area had only registered a single form one admission within three weeks and challenged parents to stop excuses of lack of school fees since education was free and that the 100 percent transition rate must be implemented at all costs.

Garsen MP Ali Wario while handing over the cheques to various schools said that the government had distributed food items to all schools in the area and that his office was buying school uniform for all form one students.

He also asked the area security team to crack down on illicit drug peddlers in the area arguing that consumption of the illicit drugs had contributed to bad behavior and indiscipline cases in schools.

Story by Merceline Tumaini, TV47’s Correspondent in the region