Forum for African Women Educationalists Kenya (FAWEK), in partnership with stakeholders from Kajiado County, engaged in a robust discussion on ways in which they could ensure all teen mothers and teen boys return to school as advocated by the school re-entry policy.
In March 2020, when Kenya was struck by the COVID-19 virus, FAWE, Kenya Chapter, started a programme dubbed Imarisha Msichana in 20 counties, Kajiado included, to see all girls receive quality education and put an end to teen pregnancy. Through the programme, they have supported girls’ education and trained various stakeholders.
FAWE Kajiado County Coordinator Nelly Naserian said that FAWE plays a critical role in school re-entry policy by ensuring that all stakeholders are well informed about the policy and all teen girls and teen mothers are educated.
“In supporting education, we have come up with the agenda of advocating for the re-entry of teen moms back to school. We have had a multi-stakeholder meeting with various ministries to disseminate our re-entry policy through the Ministry of Education so that we can play a role in the re-entry of teen moms and other outt-ofschool children back to school,” revealed Naserian.
During the engagement, FAWE and stakeholders from the Ministry of Education, Gender, Health, and Security Departments and community elders, noted that for Kajiado to record zero school teen dropouts and zero teen pregnancies, all departments had to be educated and work together towards a school re-entry programme.
Gender Director of Kajiado County, Catherine Mutinda, urged every stakeholder to put in an effort to educate the teens.
“For us to reduce these cases to zero, we cannot say it will be done by one department or one stakeholder. Therefore, we are urging one another to put forth our efforts and bring stakeholders from every community so that we can come together as a team and see the reduction of teen pregnancies and teen school dropout cases,” pointed Mutinda.
During the discussion, the stakeholders agreed to also include teen boys in the school re-entry programme to avoid the notion that a boy child has been left behind.
Kajiado CECM Gender Janet Sereu revealed that through their discussion, they intended to know the root cause of school drop-out among teens and teen pregnancies in the county.
“We are deliberating and putting our heads together on how both boys and girls are supposed to go back to school. We are critically analysing what contributes to the school dropout rate of teenagers, especially girls. Why is the prevalence of pregnancy in rural areas of Kajiado too high?
And how are we going to address these and find solutions to minimise the school dropout rate? This was just the starting point; we shall continue working together until we have zero teen pregnancy in Kajiado and school dropouts,” revealed Sereu.
One of the steps the county has taken to ensure teen mothers proceed with their education is by establishing a centre in Kajiado where teen mothers could feel safe and take care of their newborns.
According to Mourine Maya, Senior Assistant Chief for Osoni sub-location, the centre is a safe place for teen mothers who cannot take care of themselves.
“We have a place in Kitengela where we take children from teen moms who cannot take care of themselves. There, they get time to breastfeed their children until six months, and when the six months are over, the child is retained in the centre, and the mom continues with her education.
After like two years, we reconcile the child with their parents so that they can be visited in the centres or be accepted back home,” revealed Maya.
Kajiado County Director of Education Cecilia Oyieyo added that “after access to quality education, we want to ensure that learners are retained in school, and after retention, we want to ensure that they transit to the next level and complete their studies.”
Kajiado County, through their partnership with FAWEK, seeks to enlighten communities on the importance of enrolling their children back to school even after dropping out, as the government’s re-entry policy states that all children should go back to school, continue with their education, and finish.
By Seline Nyangere