Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr. Fred Matiangi has said that the 91 girls from Kericho County who became pregnant during the school closure following the Covid-19 pandemic will be readmitted in school.
The CS who also was in Kericho Monday on education and security matters confirmed that only 91 girls who became pregnant during the nine months’ closure were yet to return to school following the reopening of schools last Monday and that they would be readmitted after delivery.
Matiangi spoke at Kericho Teachers Training College (KTTC).
Meanwhile, the Presidential directive to schools to mop up pupils and students who are yet to report back to school since it was reopened one week ago week ago is starting to bear fruits in Kericho County.
After visiting schools in Kericho to assess the status of the 100 per cent return to school directive, the Principal Secretary Lands Department of Physical Planning Mr. Enosh Momanyi Onyango, with a team of Presidential Delivery Unit PDU and Kericho County Director of Education Ms. Rose Sagara confirmed that over 90 percent of pupils and students in both primary and secondary have reported back to school.
The Lands’ PS who is in Kericho to oversee the exercise found that at Anaimoi secondary school, seven students had been married off after the schools closed.
At Kaptebeswet Secondary school, 28 students were missing from school, 11 girls and 17 boys with four others having delivered while being away from school. At Kipchimchim Boys’ secondary school, five boys were yet to report to school.
Separately, the Ministry of Education has been asked to come up with a policy for establishment of babies’ day care centers in primary and secondary schools to allow their teenage mothers be in school.
Ndhiwa Member of Parliament Martin Owino said the ministry issued a directive that all learners report back to school before considering provision of daycare services for babies whose mothers were required back to schools.
Speaking at Ongaku Secondary school in North Kabuoch Ward, Ndhiwa constituency of Homa Bay, Owino said majority of the teenage mothers have no reliable caregivers to take care of their babies while they are in school.
He said some of the teenage mothers came from poor backgrounds with parents struggling to eke a living from hand to mouth.
Owino observed that many teenage mothers who were expected back in schools were still at home despite the government’s directive because they do not have people who could take care of their babies.
Noting that there was an urgent need for such centers in learning institutions, the MP urged the Ministry of Education to draft a policy and take it to Parliament for approval to allow the creation of those daycare centers in order to retain all learners in schools.
The legislator also called on parents to work closely with school heads to identify learners who were psychologically disturbed so that they could be provided with counseling services to curb school dropout.
Owino noted that there were a number of children who were silently undergoing psychological problems due to domestic issues that were likely to interfere with their learning if not addressed in time.
The MP also urged parents to ensure they provided basic needs to their children and follow the government directive of ensuring that all learners were in school.
