Give drop-outs second chance, school heads told

Pregnant woman

Narok; Kenya: Head teachers of secondary and primary schools in Narok South Sub-County have been asked to allow girls who had dropped out of school because of early pregnancies to enroll them back.
Area Sub-County Director of Education Charles Nyakundi said the Basic education Act allows every child a chance to education even after falling pregnant.
Speaking at Maji Moto Secondary school during the International Day for the Girl Child celebrations Nyakundi said denying such pupils chance is a form of stigmatization that his ministry will not allow.
"We should not condemn such pupils but rather give them another chance to redeem themselves. Falling out of school after a pregnancy should not mean the end of one's schooling," he said.
Nyakundi lauded the efforts being done by the county government to improve education standards which he said are very low.
"I totally support Governor Samuel Tunai's promise to hire graduate teachers in an attempt to address the teacher shortage in our schools. The launch of the sanitary pads for all secondary school girls is also laudable," said Nyakundi.
He appealed to the community to assist the local administration in the fight against FGM and early marriages.
"This is a practice that affects girls' schooling and limits their capacity to reach their potential. Girls enrollment in the lower primary in the county is often high but as they progress many drop out after undergoing FGM," he said adding that it has been noted that the practice leads to early marriages.
He said the practice affects the physical and mental health of the girls. Nyakundi said ending all forms of FGM is crucial to the success of Millennium Development Goals especially those related to gender, universal primary education, maternal health, child mortality and HIV/Aids.
He called on FGM crusaders and government institutions to help local communities to combat the vice through community based-approach and legislation. She further called on the national government to allocate more resources to the fight against the vice.