University and college students from parts of Kandara sub county, Murang’a have embarked to on teaching form 4 and standard 8 candidates as they wait for the government to reopen learning institutions.
The group of about 50 members is moving from one home to another targeting to equip young learners with academic skills and make them busy while they remained at home.
In the programme covering several villages, secondary and primary students are also being mentored to avoid getting into immoral behaviors which have been blamed for increased early pregnancies.
One of the university students Julius Mwaura on Tuesday told KNA they have divided themselves into small groups and usually visit homes of candidates and distribute examination papers then after specified time go back to collect the work for marking as they issue others.
“We revise with the learners after we give back the examination papers as we target to ensure the students are kept busy in revision works. In the programme, we are also mentoring them on how to embrace good moral values,” said Mwaura.
He noted that they opted to engage the students in meaningful activities after some parts of Kandara recorded a big number of pregnancies among school going girls.
“Some villages like Kangunduini reported a high number of early pregnancies and this prompted us to come up with a better idea to support the students from being involved in immoral behaviours,” he added.
The university students observed that as they carried on their activities, they were strictly observing covid-19 protocols given by the Ministry of Health.
“In one meeting, we have less than 15 students as we adhere to guidelines given by the Ministry of Health. All participants must have face masks,” he further explained.
Another university student John Kamande observed that despite the programme being successful, they have faced some challenges like the cost of printing examination papers.
He requested well-wishers to support the group, especially in meeting the cost of printing the examination papers.
One of the beneficiaries, Patricia Wanjiku, lauded the university students saying the programme has enabled her to revise and read more.
“Once schools reopen, I will be ok as I have covered a lot academically and we are in a better position to sit for national examination,” she added.
By Bernard Munyao
