Coast Regional Commissioner John Elungata has directed chiefs and their assistants in Kilifi County to ensure that all children who sat the KCPE exams join Form One by mid-October.
As of Wednesday, over 12,000 students had not reported to their respective secondary schools.
Mr Elung’ata asked the administrators to identify all children who are unable to report to school for whatever reason and help them do so.
Speaking at a stakeholders’ forum at Wakala Girls Day Secondary School in Magarini sub-county, Mr Elung’ata said chiefs should stand firm on matters of education.
“Chiefs should play a critical role in helping the Ministry of Education achieve its 100 per cent transition objective,” he said.
Mr Elungata challenged them to ensure children go to school regardless of the economic status of their parents.
He said that the current transition rate in the Coast region is 63 per cent.
At Wakala Girls, only 16 Forms One students had reported.
Principal Hellen Nduria said many students in the area had failed to join secondary schools because of poverty and other challenges.
She said that 34 students who were to join Form One had not reported because their parents cannot afford to raise school fees.
Some of the students in the area, she said, were admitted to day schools far from their homes.
Their parents were unable to raise extra money to rent houses for them near the schools.
“These children come from a community where parents have no money to take them to school. Sometimes it is hard for the parents to afford a meal,” she said.
A majority of girls who do not go to school opt to get married, she said.
She added that some are lured by men into sexual relations and end up becoming pregnant.
The girls are later forced into marriages by their parents.
“Those girls who do not want to get married always run away from home to go and look for casual jobs in towns to earn a living,” she said
The girls also work to help their parents provide for their family, she added.
Her school, she said, was looking for a well-wisher to help pay tuition fees for girls from poor families.
Some of the students depend on bursaries from the county and the national government.
Kilifi County Commissioner Kustwa Olaka said chiefs had already taken up the task of finding the missing students.
“Our regional commissioner instructed us what to do. We are hopeful that by the end of the week our Form One transition rate will increase from the current 64 per cent to above 80 per cent,” he said. BY DAILY NATION
