Bungoma County government has entered a partnership to ensure that over 12,000 teen mums return to school.
The deal brings together the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE), the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health and other organizations.
FAWE is an International organization that advocates for the return of the girls who dropped out of school.
Addressing the media on Monday after a stakeholders consultative meeting, Milsane Kiplai, the County’s Adolescent Sexual reproductive health, gender-based violence and early childhood development coordinator, said they value the girlchild’s contribution.
Kiplai added that it is the reason the County has partnered with other actors to ensure that teen mums return to class.
“We want to allow each of them to ensure that they achieve their set dreams. One way of achieving their dreams is getting the right Education which can then help them make choices in terms of what they want to do in future,” she noted.
She highlighted that in the recent past, Bungoma has been mentioned adversely as one of the counties with very high teenage pregnancy rates.
She affirmed that stakeholders drawn from various departments have come together to discuss how the girls can get back to school.
“As much as we discuss how we can have our girls get back to school, our main agenda remains to prevent teenage pregnancy because when we prevent teenage pregnancy we keep our girls in school,” Kiplai added.
Kiplai also reported that the County has brought in partners who are ensuring that the girls who cannot go back to school are allowed to join TVETs or given capital to engage in income-generating activities.
“We would like to see a community where a girl child stands out. She is empowered and able to make decisions regarding their lives,” she noted.
The County Coordinator reported that according to the data from the Ministry of Health (MOH), Bungoma has had over 12,000 teenage pregnancies in the last five years noting that in 2018, Bungoma recorded over 22,000 pregnancy cases.
In 2023, the expert revealed that the county had over 12,000 teenage pregnancy cases.
Pius Ng’oma, Bungoma County director of Education, said that the teenage pregnancy issue has been a problem in the region for a very long time assuring that with stakeholders coming together, it will help avert the menace.
“Pregnancy should not be seen as contamination to our girls. Once the victim has delivered, there is a re-entry policy where every girl who has become pregnant is allowed to come back to school undisturbed,” the director noted.
On the government’s move to extend the opening of term two, Ng’oma noted that the ministry is hopeful that the flood issue ravaging the country would have gone down to allow learners back to school.
He noted that due to the heavy downpour, rooftops have been blown away and toilets in some schools in Bungoma have sunk.