KITAKYUSHU -- Two young sisters have been forced to live at a nursery school here for two years after their parents never came to take them back, local government officials have found.

The Kitakyushu Municipal Government has managed to track down their parents and are consulting with them over the future of the children. The local government has temporarily placed the children under care at a public facility in accordance with the Child Welfare Law.

Their mother apologized for failing to care for them. "I'm sorry for my children. But I couldn't care for them due to money and health problems," she was quoted as telling local government officials.

The school failed to report the case to the government as required by law, which requires nursery schools to notify the government if any child stays there for five consecutive days or longer. "We knew the guidelines, but didn't report the case because we thought that their parents would take them back sooner or later," the principal said.

The sisters, aged 5 and 4, began to attend the nursery school in Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu, sometime around the spring of 2005, according to city officials. Initially, their mother brought them to and from school. However, she went missing in the autumn of that year, forcing the sisters to live at the facility. Their father, who had visited the nursery school on a few occasions, also lost contact. Their parents have failed to pay tuition fees to the school since they disappeared.

The local government found out about the case after they inspected the school in response to a tip. (Mainichi)

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