Transition rate reaches 96% in Northeastern, says official

At least 96 per cent of students who were expected to join Form 1 in the Northeastern region have reported to school, a national government coordinator has said.

Northeastern regional commissioner John Otieno said the government had stepped up measures aimed at ensuring 100 per cent transition of learners to secondary schools.

Otieno spoke in Dadaab town on Saturday during a meeting with national government administration officials from Fafi and Dadaab subcounties.

“I am glad to report that efforts by the national government administrative officers and officials from the Ministry of Education in the Northeastern region to mop up students who had not reported for Form 1 and Grade 7 have yielded fruits, resulting to an increase from  83.4 per cent to 96 per cent transition,” Otieno said.

He urged the chiefs and their assistants to put more efforts to ensure that the remaining students report to school by today.

He noted that Mandera and Wajir counties have achieved 100 per cent transition rate, disclosing that Garissa is lagging behind at 88 per cent transition rate, representing 1,418 students who are yet to join Form 1.

Otieno warned that letting students roam in the villages would put them at risk of being recruited into violent extremism and terror groups, making it difficult for the government to completely root out terrorism from the region.

The regional commissioner further said that the government had released the capitation funding by the Ministry of Education, while the Constituency Development Fund bursaries were being offered by the area MPs. No reason should keep the children out of school, he said.

Fafi and Bura East subcounties in Garissa have already achieved 100 per cent reporting rate for Form 1 students, largely due to the Zero Fees programme by Fafi MP Salah Yakub.

In the programme, students from Fafi receive full tuition scholarships as well as school uniforms, boxes, shoes and other personal effects.

Northeastern Regional Director for Education Aden Roble called on parents to take their parental responsibilities seriously and not deny their children access to education, which he said was a basic right.

“It was bad to see schools without pupils whereas in the villages, scores of them were loitering doing nothing. I want to call on parents and guardians in the region to allow the students to attend both their Duksi classes and the normal education together. The government will act firmly against those out to deny their children this basic right,” he said.