The poor performance in the national examinations in Kajiado Central constituency has been attributed to the high rate of teenage pregnancies.
Area Legislator Memusi Kanchori revealed that teenage pregnancy was high in schools and this has affected the educational performance of the girls, as they cannot fully concentrate in class, with a majority dropping out.
Speaking in his office after chairing a meeting with secondary school heads from the constituency, Kanchori said it was a crime to impregnate an underage child and those found culpable must be brought to book.
“Impregnating an underage girl is a criminal offence as per our Kenyan law. We will work with the office of the county commissioner to ensure that those impregnating the underage girls are arrested.” He said.
The Member of Parliament urged parents and guardians to take up their parenting role seriously and offer guidance and counselling to their children to reduce teenage pregnancy cases.
Kanchori further noted that despite the difficult conditions that teachers work under, such as lack of basic facilities, there was a slight improvement in last year’s Kenya Certificate of Secondary Examination (KCSE) results.
He said the number of students joining universities and colleges had gone up and there was a need to improve on infrastructure in schools to ensure the performance of the students keeps going up.
“The success of our children is our success and their failure is also our failure as a community. We will do all we can to ensure there are improved facilities in schools to ensure good performance in the national examination,” said the MP.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Health, Kenya has the 3rd highest rate of teen pregnancies worldwide, where one in every five adolescents aged 15–19 are already mothers or pregnant with their firstborns.
The statistics further indicate that nine counties, including Nairobi, Kajiado, Homa Bay, Meru, Kericho, Narok, Kisii, Mandera, and Bomet, contributed to 56% of all teenage pregnancies among adolescents between 10 – 14 years of age.
By Rop Janet