Six secondary school students from the Democratic Republic of Congo have been banned from attending any school in the country after a sex tape they filmed was shared widely, Actualite Congo website reports.
The students were expelled following a directive by Education Minister Tony Mwaba.
The video was filmed outside their school in the capital, Kinshasa, but shows them wearing their school uniforms.
Fve school boys and one girl can be seen in the video.
Human Rights Minister Albert-Fabrice Puela has however said the ban contravenes children’s rights.
Albert-Fabrice Puela, Minister of Human Rights, spoke on Tuesday about the exclusion from the Congolese school system of students filmed having sex in Kinshasa.
He condemns “very severely the act of children (minors, moreover). He criticizes, however, just as much “the irresponsibility of these school leaders who, under the impulse of an emotion unworthy of their ages, by publicly naming these children (they must answer for it) and by giving themselves the nerve to violate the international convention on the rights of the child of 1989, ratified by the DRC, the constitution of the Republic and the law on the protection of the child ”.
These students from Saint-Georges school, in the municipality of Kintambo, have been identified and are in the 5th literary year.
“Your right to permanently exclude offending children from school (we agree) does not give you the right to deprive them of their right to access to education. It is one of the fundamental rights of every child. What do you want these children to become tomorrow ”, wonders Minister Puela, who recalls Article 3 of the aforementioned convention:
In all decisions concerning children, whether they are made by public or private protection institutions social, courts, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child must be a primary consideration. “
Albert-Fabriece Puela announces a new official statement from his ministry in this matter.
BBC Africa News
