The incident of school children getting pregnant have grown to be rampant this year. For a moment someone could think the cheating menace have been replaced by pregnancies during exams .
Actually the pregnancies have hit the headlines more than exam irregularities both in KCPE AND KCSE. But who impregnates them?
More than any year this year have recorded an alarming rate of school girls deferring their exams to go to delivery units or due to labour pains. Maybe their is a leak somewhere which both parents , teachers and government have to act so swiftly to fix.
Last week the CS Amina Mohamed ordered the school heads and the related stakeholders to act so swiftly to establish the course and bring those “woman eater” to face the law.
The Deputy President William Ruto has also come out to offer a warning to those who have the tendency of impregnating school going the children. The DP has said that the government is extending its long arm to curb those predators who feast on children.
A county like Kitui recorded 110 pregnancies during the exam period and the boda boda riders being put on the spot.
In Bomet county, two girls gave birth. In Meru, a candidate sat her exam in hospital after delivering an underweight baby. Two students wrote the exam in health facilities, but it was not immediately clear whether they were pregnant.
During the KCPE exam period that ended on Thursday last week, about 30 candidates countrywide sat their exam in hospitals after giving birth.
In a report released by the Children’s Affairs department, Kilifi county has reported the highest number of teen pregnancies in the country — 13,624 cases in the past one year.
Thika-based counselling psychologist Gladys Chania yesterday blamed parents for failing to guide their children.
She said children have been left on their own devices and end up adopting anti-social behaviour such as drug and alcohol abuse.
“These substances greatly hurt a teen’s ability to think logically, thus increases their chances of engaging in unprotected and unsafe sexual activity,” Chania said.
She said children from poor families are the worst hit.
“They have been found vulnerable due to their low socioeconomic status,” she said.
Kilifi Children’s Affairs coordinator George Migosi also blamed parents for the early pregnancies, saying 5,000 cases in the county resulted from neglect.
Disciplinary action will be taken against those who fail to adhere to the new directive issued yesterday by Education PS Belio Kipsang.
The reports will be sent to county education directors. Kipsang told head teachers in Nandi that the ministry had not been supplied with proper information on the number of pregnant learners.
The heads will also explain actions they have taken to curb the problem. Kipsang warned parents against settling defilement cases outside court.
“Police officers and administrators in areas where such cases are reported will be held responsible for abetting sexual assault on schoolgirls,” he said. Last Thursday, Education CS Amina Mohamed ordered quality assurance and standards officers at the ministry to investigate teen pregnancies.