Pupils drop out of school as hunger pangs bite

Kenya: The ravaging hunger in Mbeere region is now taking a toll on education.

School children are being forced to skip classes while others routinely collapse while in class due to hunger pangs.

Government statistics indicate that over 100,000 residents are in need of emergency relief food with children and elderly people being the most hit.

Teachers, parents and pupils from different schools in the region have called on the Government to scale up provision of relief food in the area.

Three meals a day has become a luxury for most children in the area with some are accompanying their parents in search of food.

Peter Kariuki, a pupil at Ngenge Primary School, says there are instances when there is no breakfast and on getting back home in the evening they are not assured of supper. "If we are lucky, we only find only a cup of porridge," he says, adding that sometimes, he is unable to go to school due to hunger. Kariuki called for help to enable him and hundreds others like him continue schooling.

Ngenge Primary School headteacher Grace Kariuki says children who report to school hungry keep asking for permission to go outside for water.

"Some children steal food from others to forestall starvation. We are calling for assistance until it rains," she says.

Embu Deputy Governor Dorothy Nditi said rain has failed three subsequent seasons in most areas.