Coast leaders start schools enrolment campaign

Coast leaders and chiefs have started an aggressive campaign to
ensure parents take their children to school following low Form One
enrolment that has shocked the Ministry of Education.
It
has emerged that some schools like Muhaka in Kwale had only managed to
get five Form One students out of the 95 that had been selected to join
it.
The six Coast counties are using community radio stations and administrators to urge parents to take their children to school.
School
principals have also been given free airtime to facilitate them to urge
parents to enrol their children in secondary schools.
The principals have also been asked to admit Form Ones with or without school fees in the initiative dubbed “Operesheni rudisha watoto shule”.
MATIANG'I
The
region has been hit by low enrolment of students prompting acting
Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i to pitch camp in Mombasa,
holding closed-door meetings with security bosses, politicians,
scholars, parents and other education stakeholders.
Accompanied
by other officials from the ministry including Education Principal
Secretary Belio Kipsang, Dr Matiang’i launched the drive on Wednesday,
urging Coast leaders and national government administrators to work with
counties in searching for children in villages who have not reported to
school.
“Have them report to school.
For instance at Mama Ngina we brought books for all the students but
only 82 had reported and the books for the other 100 are waiting for
them as well as their tuition money,” said the Dr Matiang’i.
The drive is meant to address low enrolment of Form Ones.
FREE DAY SCHOOLING
Dr
Matiang’i also criticised leaders for failing to ensure children go to
school despite the free secondary education in day schools.
He noted that at Mama Ngina Girls High School, out of 180 students admitted to the institution only 80 had reported.
He also ordered education officials to probe schools charging students extra money.
Speaking
after a two-hour meeting with elected leaders, education officials and
the region’s security committees at Kenya School of Government, Dr
Matiang’i warned the day schools of dire consequences if found charging
extra money.
“Any schools that are
asking extra charges such as development money or money for lunch are
actually committing a mistake. We have therefore instructed education
officials to move round the Coast and see whether there are any of our
day schools that are doing that,” said Dr Matiang’i.
He said the government has already allocated Sh22,240 for every child reporting to school.
CHALLENGES
But
some of the leaders attributed the low enrolment to various challenges
affecting Coast children including poverty, delays in the disbursement
of CDF money and insecurity.
Some of the leaders who spoke to Nation blamed the government for not implementing the free education programme saying it is only “subsidised education”.
“They promised free secondary education but it is not there,” said Kwale Woman Rep Zulekha Juma.
Kwale
Deputy Governor Fatuma Achani said the county has developed a
sensitisation programme targeting parents and guardians whose children
are yet to join secondary schools due to lack of fees.
DRIVE BEARING FRUIT
The new enrolment drive has borne fruit after secondary schools witnessed a slight improvement of new students joining them.
In Kwale, which is among counties hit by low enrolment, a slight improvement in enrolment has been witnessed.
By
Wednesday, out of 10,668 students who had been selected to join public
secondary schools in the county, only 5,109 had reported.
Private secondary schools recorded a total of 294 students who had reported out of 558 students selected.
According
to records compiled by the county director of education, the most
affected is Lunga Lunga Sub-County which has recorded the lowest
enrolment of 672 out of 1,579 students expected to report to school.
“It
is followed by Msambweni Sub-County with 811 out 2,262 students who
have reported to school. Muhaka Day Secondary School in the same
sub-county is the worst hit, recording only five out of 95 students
reporting to school,” a source at the ministry told Nation.
Kwale High School Principal Festus Sombo said 209 Form Ones out of 240 had reported to the school by Wednesday.
At the prestigious Matuga Girls, a national school, a total of 158 students out of 192 had been admitted by 12pm Thursday.
Shimo
La Tewa High School in Mombasa, which has a new chief principal, Mr
Mathew Mutiso, has recorded the highest number of Form Ones who are
boarders, 390, countrywide.
Allen
Barasa who sat his KCPE exams at Blue Hills Academy in Ruai said he was
happy to join the prestigious school that was started in 1932.
STRATEGIES
In
Kwale, some leaders have also come up with strategies to ensure
students who are still at home are identified and taken to school “by
force”.
The county government is working with various education players to identify the students through ward administrators and chiefs.
Speaking to Nation,
Ms Achani attributed the low turnout to high levels of poverty, adding
that most students do not go to school they are selected to join.
“We
will ensure no student remains at home. Majority of the families in
Kwale are poor. Some parents have more than one child in school making
it very difficult for them to take other children to learn within the
set deadline. But the number will increase," Ms Achani said.
Kinango
MP Benjamin Dalu Tayari said he has engaged headteachers to admit
students as he sorts out the bursary issue through the CDF kitty.
He blamed delays in the disbursement of CDF money to low enrolment.
“But I am hopeful that in due course CDF will pay their school fees," he said.
COMMUNITY RADIO
In
Tana River, principals have been ordered to use community radio
stations to encourage parents to take their children to school.
Galole
Sub-County Director of Education Abdul-Aziz Nuh said officials and
administrators are making rounds in schools urging principals to admit
students.
“Principals have also been
ordered to admit students with or without school fees. The fees issue
would easily be sorted out once the students are in school. We have
provided free airtime on our community radio station for our principals
to urge parents to take their children to school," he said.
Mr
Nuh said majority of the parents had kept their children at home for
lack of school fees, a factor that has affected the enrolment.
“This
initiative was only launched yesterday (Wednesday) and as you know this
area is marginalised so that information from far places reaches the
people two or three days later. So we have a lot of work to do and that
is why we are going to depend on our radio stations,” he said.
Mr Nuh will be meeting chiefs and sub-chiefs to enforce the initiative in rural areas.
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