Why parents of expectant exam candidates risk arrest

Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang on Thursday warned that parents of candidates who gave birth during exams risk arrest.

Speaking in Nyeri on the last day of the KCPE examinations on Thursday, Kipsang noted that most teenage pregnancies were being covered up by kangaroo courts.

“One of the issues that came out strongly during the exam period is teenage pregnancies. These girls are underage and thus we cannot talk of consent.

“It is actually defilement,” he said.

Kipsang further added that the government shall raid villages where people make ‘local arrangements’ regarding teenage pregnancies.

“This is a question of assault, which makes it a security threat. We shall go to those villages because we know there are places where people make local arrangements.

“We shall arrest those involved, including the parents who engage in these backroom deals, compromising the future of their children,” the PS said.

A number of candidates did their exams in health facilities after giving birth and Education CS Amina Mohamed also raised concern.

“We have detected a high number of candidates who become mothers during this period and this could be a problem for the country,” she said.