• State attributed the increased pregnancies to prolonged school closure after the Covid-19 outbreak.
• Parents urged to speak to their daughters and counsel them. And what about the boys and men who get them pregnant? Stop evil men, Magoha said.
Image: FILE
Whatever their numerical scores, they get high marks for courage and commitment to education.
Some 652 determined girls sat their 2020 KCSE examinations in hospitals after giving birth, Education CS George Magoha revealed on Monday when he released scores.
He said 3,772 candidates, both boys and girls, skipped the test. Some 752,933 learners were registered but only 749,161 eventually sat the exams.
Bungoma had the highest number of girls, 43, who sat their exams in hospital, followed by Meru at 38, Nakuru at 36 and Nandi county at 31.
The number of girls sitting their KCSE exams in hospitals after delivery was more than twice that of 2019, when 282 found themselves in similar circumstances, igniting concern among the public and education stakeholders.
Bungoma had the highest prevalence at that time with 45 cases, followed by Kakamega at 16, while Meru had 16 cases and Makueni had 16.
Magoha attributed the surge to the long school closure due to the measures taken by the government to contain the spread of Covid-19.
Image: MARGARET WANJIRU
“We have noted the number of candidates sitting the examinations upon delivery went up in 2020… showing that the long school closure due to Covid-19 may have driven our learners into many temptations at a time most households were facing enormous challenges,” Magoha said.
Schools were closed from March 2020 until October when candidates were recalled to prepare for the tests.
The CS said the ministry and government departments will focus on 46 counties deemed as worst-hit by the teenage pregnancies. He didn't name the 47th that was not as seriously affected.
“We will address the root cause of this perennial problem," Magoha said.
“We know only too well that addressing this menace requires a multi-sectoral approach," he said.
The CS asked parents and guardians to support the girls to ensure they are not sexually exploited. Girls who are to join Form 1 in July should be counselled and kept busy, he said.
“I plead to my daughters and granddaughters who received their results that as they wait to join Form 1 in July, let them have something to do. Let parents help them.”
The learners who sat the examinations are expected to remain at home until July 26 when they will join Form One.
Magoha said his ministry will continue working with the Interior ministry under CS Fred Matiang'i to ensure chiefs do their best to prevent such incidents and thwart perpetrators.
“I was instructed to track these girls and make sure they are not loitering around and being cheated with sweets and what have you,” he said.
He dismissed assertions some girls are lured by money to buy sanitary pads, saying the ministry has provided sufficient supplies that last more than nine months. He said the solution lies with the family.
The CS urged parent to spend valuable time with their children, especially their daughters.
“I want to ask parents to talk to their children. Your child doesn’t need money; she needs your time and wisdom. Does it mean the girls who were there during my time were animals? Were they not human beings? They carried themselves with dignity because their parents did their work.
“These learners require close supervision 24-7 and guidance to protect them from the many temptations that come from evil men who sexually prey on them,” the CS said.
Kenya created a National Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Policy in 2015 to improve the sexual and reproductive health of adolescents.
(Edited by V. Graham)