The ministries of Education and Interior have been tasked to launch a nationwide mass campaign and action against alcohol, drugs and substance abuse in schools.
This is according to the report by the Presidential Working Party on Education Reform (PWPER) handed to President William Ruto on Tuesday.
Stakeholders who spoke to the taskforce decried the rising cases of early pregnancy, drug and alcohol abuse, school unrest and bullying in basic and tertiary institutions.
Among the recommendations is that the campaigns will be conducted in collaboration with the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).
The three government agencies will also be required to carry out periodic surveys on the rising and persistent cases of school violence in the country.
In their written submissions to the PWPER, the Kenya Universities Students Organisation (Kuso) decried Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, crime, suicide, alcohol, drugs and substance abuse, and delayed or low completion rates as the issues affecting University students.
“There is also a notable increase in the spread of HIV and AIDS and sexually transmitted infections due to the moral degradation phenomenon among campus and college students,” the report shows.
Kuso recommended that a directorate of Students Affairs be established in the Ministry of Education to manage rising cases of students' mental health challenges that the deans are unable to handle.
The taskforce also established that there existed weak structures for psychosocial support services such as Guidance and Counselling, peer counseling, and career guidance in schools.
For instance, out of the 765 submissions on learners’ welfare, 49 per cent of the submissions recommended a review of the frameworks for guidance and counseling, peer counseling, career guidance, and training of teachers on the same.
