Ministry warns action over refusal to vaccinate, send children to school

The Ministry of Law and Gender has warned that action will be taken against those who do not vaccinate their children, refuse to send their children to school, or fail register their marriages.

In a press release today, Gender Ministry said that the number of people who do not vaccinate their children and who do not provide formal education to their children has increased.

“Ensuring the healthy well-being of children and providing them education, are basic rights of children. It is a religious and national responsibility for the parents to give these rights to their children,” said Gender Ministry.

The Ministry said in the press release that as stated in the Maldivian constitution and laws on children’s rights and health, it is not left up to parents alone to facilitate a healthy life, provide a minimum of secondary school education, and instil good morale in children, rather, it is a legal and constitutional obligation of the nation, parents, and even the society as a whole.

“Not vaccinating children may lead to the spread of dangerous diseases, which can pose risks to the children as well as the community. Apart from the religious obligation, providing education is very important for children to be healthy and economically stable, which will in turn build responsible citizens who can contribute to the development of the nation. For these reasons, we remind the parents and guardians that vaccinating their children and facilitating a healthy well-being and providing education to children are legal responsibilities for all the parents and guardians,” Gender Ministry said in the press release.

Gender Ministry said that there are couples who say that they are married, live together, and have children without registering the marriages at any court. The Ministry said that these marriages are not conducted in accordance with the rules and regulation of Maldives, and because the children from these marriages are not formally registered in any concerned authority, they are deprived of their rights as Maldivian citizens, and well as the rights enshrined in the Family Act.

“We would like to inform all citizens that because of unregistered marriages and divorces, it is difficult to maintain the statistics of marriage and divorce, children’s lineage, iddah and the religious issues associated with it, and relevant rights and responsibilities,” the ministry said, advising to ensure marriage registration.

Gender Ministry said that failure to vaccinate and educate children and register marriages are violations of the law, and action would be taken against those who disobey the law.