Parents of nursery school children to be fined €200 for absences
Parents and children’s guardians are now liable to monetary fines if the children are absent from nursery school without notification, under a law passed by parliament on Thursday.
If a child does not attend nursery school without the school having been notified of the absence, staff must by law contact the parents or guardians for an explanation.
Staff must make two attempts to reach the parents or guardians on the contact phone provided. If communication is not possible, a warning message will be sent to the parents or guardians. After that, if no contact has been made, the police will intervene and issue a warning.
Failure to comply will carry a fine of up to €200.
The bill’s sponsor Marios Mavrides (Disy) said the measure was necessary after incidents where “children and babies lost their life after being left locked in cars in the heat”.
Akel MP Andreas Kafkalias censured the government, saying that four months after the tragic death of an infant forgotten inside a vehicle, it has yet to “be moved” into taking action.
The bill passed by unanimous vote.
In mid-March a nine-month-old infant was found unconscious in the mother’s car.
Once discovered, the child was rushed to hospital, but doctors were unable to resuscitate it.