c. Since September 2009, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, with support from UNICEF and
USAID has been implementing programming aimed at deinstitutionalization of children and promoting
foster care.
d. The Children‟s Law provides a clear framework and standards for alternative care institutions and foster
care arrangements and regulations in line with the principles of the best interest of the child and
preference for family care. The Children‟s Law establishes the government‟s obligation to conduct semiperiodic review of child placements.
e. The government has begun discussions on designing and piloting a foster care system and arrangements
18. In addition to information provided under paragraph 8(d) of these guidelines, States Parties are
requested to specify the nature and extent of cooperation with local, national, regional and international
organizations, concerning the implementation of this area of the Children's Charter. States Parties are
encouraged to provide additional relevant statistical information and indicators relating to children
covered in this section
VIII. EDUCATION, LEISURE AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES
19. Under this section, States Parties are requested to provide relevant information, including the
principal legislative, judicial, administrative or other measures such as projects, programmes etc.; the
institutional infrastructure for implementing policy in this area, particularly monitoring strategies and
mechanisms; factors and difficulties encountered and progress achieved in implementing the relevant
provisions of the Children's Charter, in respect of:
a) Education, including vocational training and guidance (Article 11)
The Education Reform Actwas adopted in 2011. Itgoverns and regulates the educational system and the delivery
and management of the system to ensure the provision of quality education to all citizens, promote equal access
to educational opportunities and decentralize the educational system. In order to support the budgetary needs of
the interventions for the Ministry of Education, the Act provides for allocation of 60% of the signatory fees
coming from mining companies to the Ministry of Education.
The Children‟s Law provides as follows for education in Article III Section 9:
a. MOE shall progressively make higher education accessible to all on the basis of capacity and ability;
b. shall progressively work with local government authorities to encourage regular attendance at schools
and the reduction of drop-out rates;
c. shall progressively work with local government authorities through the Ministry of Internal Affairs and
other ministries to devise and implement programs and measures to provide early childhood education,
including pre-schools;
d. Shall ensure that the teaching of child rights is included in the curriculum for teacher training and
primary and secondary schools.
Article V, SECTION 2.1 stipulates that subject to the best interest of the child and parental guidance, every
member of a child‟s extended family shall have the authority to render guidance and advice to the child. Section
2.2 provides that the guidance of the child from parents, relatives, and service providers shall include the use of
tradition and cultural standards to foster the development of a sense of responsibility in the child, subject to her
or his evolving capacities.
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