Education officials have cited rising teenage pregnancies and fragmented interventions as major threats to girls’ education.
In view of this, the Ministry of Education has called for concerted government and community efforts to tackle early marriages, teenage pregnancies and gender-based violence (GBV) affecting schoolgirls in Kajiado County.
Kajiado County Director of Education (CDE) Dr. Martin Cheruiyot said the situation required coordinated action by government agencies, parents, communities and other education stakeholders to curb teenage pregnancies and increasing girls school dropout.
“The situation here for our girls is not good. We need to do something better,” Dr. Cheruiyot said after touring several schools in the county.
He said there was an upward trend in teenage pregnancies among schoolgirls, warning that the situation was denying many learners an opportunity to complete their education.
“As for now, we need to be brutal. We can’t have more than ten girls in a class missing learning because of early pregnancies,” he said.
Dr. Cheruiyot attributed the challenges to a combination of factors, including outdated cultural beliefs, poor road networks, and fragmented interventions by organizations and government agencies involved in child protection and education.
He said the Ministry would mobilize government and non-governmental agencies to adopt a coordinated approach in addressing the challenges facing girls in schools.
The CDE called for closer collaboration between education officials, parents and communities to identify and address factors contributing to early marriages, teenage pregnancies, and GBV.
He said keeping girls in school required more than interventions by the education sector, noting that communities and other government agencies had an important role to play in creating a safe learning environment.
The official urged communities to support initiatives aimed at protecting girls from abuse and early marriage and ensuring they remain in school until they complete their education.
The Ministry said stronger collaboration among stakeholders would help reduce cases of teenage pregnancies, early marriages, and GBV and improve retention of girls in schools across the county.
by Wangari Ndirangu
