31. Six years of primary education are
provided by government schools, Government-assisted schools
with religious affiliation and private schools. Primary
education is not compulsory but the Government since
independence has strived to provide places for all school-age
children. […]
Minimum age of employment
101. (c) Employment Act (Cap 160), section
38: no person under the age of 12 shall be employed in any
capacity, except on light work suitable to his/her capability
in an agricultural undertaking owned and managed by the family
of which he or she is a member; section 39: a person under the
age of 14 is not allowed to be employed except on light work
of an agricultural or domestic character in which members of
the employer's family are employed with him, or on
agricultural light work carried on collectively by the local
community; section 40: a person under the age of 15 is not
allowed to work on any industrial undertaking except with the
approval of the Commissioner of Labour or on a ship; section
41: no person under the age of 18 is allowed to work at night
in any industrial undertaking; section 42: no person under the
age of 18 is allowed to work on a ship unless certified by a
medical practitioner that he is fit for such work; section 43:
every employer in any industrial undertaking and every master
of a ship shall keep a register of all persons under the age
of 18 years employed in such undertaking or on the ship. Such
register is open to inspection by the labour
officer;
Minimum age for marriage
101. (d) Control of Marriage Act (Cap 45):
article 2 states that no person of the male sex being under
the age of 18 years and no person of the female sex being
under the age of 16 years may lawfully marry; article 3 states
that no person under the age of 21 years may lawfully marry
without the consent of his/her parents or
guardians;
Minimum age for criminal responsibility
193. The Penal Code (sect. 17 (1)) protects
children under 10 years of age from responsibility for crime.
It states that no child under the age of 10 years shall be
capable of committing any criminal offence. A child of 10
years of age or over but under 14 years of age shall be
presumed to be incapable of committing a criminal offence
unless it is proved by evidence that he was able to
distinguish between right and wrong and that he did so with
respect to the offence with which he is charged.
[…]
