- The impact of the closure was first seen during administration of the 2020 KCPE that saw 12,424 candidates miss out.
- A survey conducted by the Kenya Health Information System found that 3,964 girls under the age of 19 were pregnant in Machakos county alone
Image: FILE
Senators want Education CS George Magoha to disclose the Ministry’s interventions and strategies to curb the rising cases of school dropouts among teenage girls.
The legislators raised concerns over the high numbers especially after the long school closure caused by the Covid-19 pandemic last year.
They said statistics by various education stakeholders have painted a grim picture that needs immediate and quick intervention by the state.
Nominated Senator Abshiro Halake has asked the House, through the Education Committee, to summon the CS and key officers in his ministry to explain what she termed as worrying.
“The committee should outline the strategies in place to ensure that teenage girls who dropped out of school are tracked, re-enrolled and proceed with their education,” Halake said.
The Kanu lawmakers want Magoha to articulate mechanisms employed by the Ministry to guarantee high retention and transition of teenage girls in primary and secondary schools.
The concerns come against the backdrop of reports from the government indicating more than 375,000 learners dropped out of primary and secondary schools.
The dropouts were attributed to the long closure of learning institutions last year.
The ‘Promise to Keep: Impact of Covid-19 on adolescents’ report commissioned by President Uhuru Kenyatta shows about 250,000 of the dropouts were girls.
Ruth Kagia, deputy Chief of Staff in the Office of the President last month said, “[The] rate of pregnancies went up, they also fell in the risk of substance abuse and access to unregulated information through the phones.”
She added, “That is why opening schools, in essence, is the first step because it provides a safe and regulated space.”
Schools closed in March 2020 for seven months with Grade 4, Class 8 and Form 4 reporting back in October while the rest of the classes reported in January this year.
The impact of the closure was first seen during the administration of the 2020 KCPE that saw 12,424 candidates miss out.
Halake wants Magoha to apprise the Senate on policies instituted to ensure that teenage girls exposed to early marriages receive psychological support to rehabilitate and reintegrate them into schools.
“The committee should inform the Senate on the status of identification and prosecution of individuals responsible for impregnating and marrying school going teenage girls,” Halake said.
The Centre for Multiparty Democracy chair also wants the ministry to outline targeted interventions to support teenage mothers raise children, to ensure the risk of receding is minimised.
Kagia said over a period of three months during Covid-19 lockdown, 152,000 teenage girls became pregnant—a 40 per cent increase in the country's monthly average.
A survey conducted by the Kenya Health Information System found that 3,964 girls under the age of 19 were pregnant in Machakos county alone.
Public health officials and women’s rights advocates have also raised concerns about the ongoing pandemic, saying it is delaying adequate response to a growing sexual reproductive health crisis.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)