Students skipping school in Saudi Arabia can put parents in jail

Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Education said on Thursday that parents of students, who remain absent from school for 20 days without an excuse or reason, could be imprisoned by the authorities.

Saudi Arabia-based news organisation Mekkah Newspaper in a report said that if a student misses school for 20 days, it was the responsibility of the school to refer the student's guardian to the Public Prosecution Office, which comes under kingdom's Child Protection Law, which has the authority to investigate.

The Public Prosecution Office will then finalise the investigation and then refer the case to a Criminal Court. Then a judge would have the right to issue a prison sentence to the guardian for an appropriate time if it is proven that the student's absence in school was due to the negligence of the guardian.

As per the report, if such a situation arises the school's principal has to inform the Ministry of Education which will open an investigation and order transfer of the student to family care. After that family care will take the student in and investigate the issue.

The school will also refer the guardian to the Public Prosecution Office to investigate him. The Criminal Court will then consider the case.

The judge will then issue a judgment of imprisonment of the guardian for an appropriate period due to his negligence in taking care of the child.

As per the procedure, if a student takes 3 days off, an initial warning will be issued and will be transferred to the student mentor. After the student takes 5 days off, a second warning will be issued and the guardian will be notified. After 10 days of absence, a third warning will be issued and the guardian will be summoned and will have to sign a pledge. After 15 days of absence, the student will be transferred to another school through the Education Department. Within 20 days, the Education Department will apply the provisions of the Child Protection Law.

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