A non-governmental organization has partnered with the government and other education stakeholders to address school dropout rates amongst girls in Homa Bay county.
To achieve the goals, the organization dubbed, Population Council Kenya, has launched a Gender in Education Action Plan 2026-2030.
A lead researcher in Population Council Kenya Lilian Agesa said that the action plan is geared towards solving imbalances in school completion rates between boys and girls in Homa Bay county.
She noted that some of the issues include teen pregnancies, HIV infections, child labour, poverty, sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) among others.
Agesa noted that statistics in Homa Bay county indicate that primary school completion rates favour girls with 85.5 percent of girls completing primary school compared to 70.3 percent of boys.
However, as students transition to secondary school, a slight gender gap emerges favouring boys; secondary completion rates stand at 56.7 for boys and 52.9 percent for girls.
Agesa presented the findings during the launch of the action plan at Cold Springs Hotel and urged stakeholders to come up with measures to address the barriers in education.
Agesa said many girls’ dropout of school due to social vices at the community level.
“Homa Bay is one of the counties with high dropout prevalence for girls at secondary school level. More than 30 percent of girls do not complete secondary school despite transitioning from primary school,”Agesa said.
Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the workshop, Agesa said boys are affected by dropout rates as well.
“We also have boys dropping out of school because of challenges like poverty and child labour that affect them,” the researcher said.
Homa Bay County Director of Education Eunice Khaemba said the county has many challenges that girls face. She cited triple threat of teenage pregnancy, new HIV infection and gender based violence.
She said that girls in the region also suffer as victims of early marriages.
The official explained that poverty and being orphaned makes many girls start school late.
“Some of the children head their families. They take over parental responsibilities and these make them go to school when they are older as compared to other children,” Khaemba said.
She noted that older school girls are more likely to become pregnant than the younger ones.
During the launch of the action plan, different stakeholders committed to support initiatives meant to retain girls in school.
Homa Bay County Gender Committee Executive Elijah Munga and his Education counterpart Martin Opere said the county government has been conducting mentorship programs but lacks adequate data to back the action.
He said that the gender in education action plan 2026-2030 will help the county government allocate resources prudently.
“We will focus our energies and resources to the sub-counties that are highly hit. We’ve had a number of mentorship programs, community engagement, especially in the Suba region, because the numbers show where we have rampant cases,” Munga said.
Opere said the action plan will guide the county government in resource allocation to education institutions.
“Statistics show that we do well at access, retention, and completion at primary level, but not at senior school. We plan to support students by issuing bursaries to senior school students and even scholarships at vocational training centers,” Opere said.
Homa Bay Deputy County Commissioner Philip Kipsang said the education system must give both boys and girls equal access to education.
He called for full implementation of the action plan and urged education stakeholders to give it full support.
The administrator noted that it should be the beginning of measurable results and action at all levels.
by Davis Langat
