Eight learners from Muslim public primary school in Moyale Sub-County all in upper classes have not resumed learning since school reopened.
Three girls among them are now being suspected to have been married off during the long school holiday occasioned by Covid-19, while the remaining five boys moved to boda boda and other businesses at the expense of education.
The school head teacher Abdi Mboya made the revelation Friday, during a visit to the institution by the Moyale Sub-County Education evaluation and monitoring committee members, led by the area Assistant County Commissioner David Mutuku.
Mutuku said cases of underage girls being removed from school to be married off was of great concern to the government and appropriate measures must be taken speedily to stem the vice.
Subsequently, the Assistant County commissioner has ordered chief and assistant chiefs in the area to make follow-up on all pupils who have not reported back to school and give out a concrete report by Monday next week.
At the same time, local administrators found to be abetting forced or arranged marriages in their areas of jurisdiction, at the expense of education, also risk being sacked, warned Mutuku.
Additionally, he directed head teachers to compile a comprehensive list of pupils who had not reported back to school in order to facilitate efforts to trace them.
The Assistant County Commissioner urged parents against keeping their children out of school, warning that this was against the law as all children have a right to education.
Area sub-County director of education Roba Halakhe who conducted the committee to the schools appealed to parents to act as good role models to their children.
He appealed to parents and guardians to have quality time with their children and teach them on how to be responsible citizens in future.
Halakhe regretted that majority of the so called modern parents no longer cared about the whereabouts of their children, thus leaving them to engage in immoral behavior.
“For instance, girls have been left on their own without basic necessities like sanitary towels and even for those with phones they can hardly afford airtime, hence have to follow men, who sometimes take undue advantage over them, leading to to increased cases of teenage pregnancies,” he said.
During the tour, the committee found out that many public primary schools in the area did not fully meet the ministry of health protocols, especially social distancing due to lack of adequate classes and desks.
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