Parents risk arrest for failing to report teen pregnancies

Education PS Belio Kipsang greets KCPE candidates at Nyamachaki Primary School in Nyeri County, where he inspected the progress of the national examinations on November 1, 2018. PHOTO | JOSEPH KANYI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • At least 10 girls were confirmed to have given birth during the three-day Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exams period.
  • According to the report, Narok County had 60 per cent of schoolgirls pregnant.
  • In Kisumu, a candidate at St Mark Nyabera Primary School, who skipped exams to be with her boyfriend, was arrested.

The Ministry of Education has threatened to arrest parents whose underage daughters get pregnant and they fail to report those responsible to the police.

Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang on Thursday warned that parents who enter into social arrangements with the offenders to circumvent the law would also be arrested.

“We shall go to those villages where people make local arrangements. We shall arrest anybody, including the parents, who engage in these backroom deals while they compromise the future of their children,” Dr Kipsang said.

Speaking in Nyeri, the PS said that parents of candidates who give birth during exams will be arrested because those are defilement cases that had not been brought to the attention of authorities.

“One of the issues that came out very strongly is teenage pregnancies. These girls are underage, so we cannot talk of consent. It is actually defilement. This is a question of assault, which makes it a security threat,” Dr Kipsang said, attributing them to ‘kangaroo courts in villages’.

LABOUR

At least 10 girls were confirmed to have given birth during the three-day Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams period.

In Homa Bay, a pupil at Kikubi Primary School in Suba South Sub-County went into labour and was rushed to a health centre, bringing to four the number of girls, whose examinations were disrupted by labour pains.

The number could be higher because some expectant girls may have chosen not to present themselves for the examinations that guarantee each of the 1.1 million candidates a place in Form One.

Dr Kipsang said police officers and administrators in areas where the cases are reported will also be held responsible for abetting sexual assault on school girls.

In Nairobi, Education Cabinet Secretary (CS) Amina Mohamed ordered another investigation into teenage pregnancies despite a report on the main cause of girls dropping out of schools having been released in July.

CRISIS

“We are concerned that a high number of candidates became mothers during the three days of KCPE. If this is happening all year round, then the country could be facing a crisis,” said the CS.

Ms Mohamed spoke at the Lang’ata Women’s Prison where she witnessed three prisoners finish their social studies paper.

The Education Quality Dialogue report released in July exposed shocking details of the high number of teenage pregnancies, defilement and drug abuse in schools.

According to the report, Narok County had 60 per cent of schoolgirls pregnant. It was the most affected county.

Since January this year, a total of 111 male teachers have been sacked by their employer — the Teachers Service Commission — for having sexual relations with their students.

RED FLAG

Another study by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) also raised a red flag on sexual harassment of learners aged between 13 and 17 years by teachers.

The CS also blamed parents for the scourge. “It is the responsibility of parents to talk to their children and ensure that they do not engage in early sexual relations,” she said, adding that there was no cheating during the examination.

Several cases of attempted impersonation were also reported.

In Nakuru County, security agencies have intensified investigation into allegations of exam malpractices at Victory Preparatory school, a private institution in Mbaruk, Gilgil Sub-County. Area residents claimed that Standard Seven pupils sat the exams on behalf of some candidates.

IRREGULARITIES

Officials said that they had not established irregularities at the examination centre where County Director of Education Isaac Atebe, County Commissioner Joshua Nkanatha, Knec officials and security officers camped for three days to investigate the allegations.

In Kisumu, a candidate at St Mark Nyabera Primary School, who skipped exams to be with her boyfriend, was arrested.

In Lamu, a candidate at Kiongwe Primary School did not turn up for the final paper. His parents thought he was in school until the teachers informed them of his absence.

INCENTIVES

The Consumer Federation of Kenya said it was unstainable to spend more than Sh4.2 billion on supervising examinations and use less on modernising education.

“The fact that our education system is exam-based enhances the need and incentives for learners and money-minting cartels to use all the tricks to pass the exams. This has made eradicating exam cheating an impossibility as those behind the cheating are always ahead of government interventions,” the lobby said in a report released Thursday.

Reporting by Faith Nyamai, Ouma Wanzala, Benson Amadala, Elizabeth Ojina, Victor Raballa, Nicholas Komu, Joseph Openda, Diana Kimanzi, George Sayagie, Steve Njuguna, Kalume Kazungu and Fadhili Fredrick