Coast leaders start schools enrolment campaign

Form One students during enrolment at Shimo La Tewa Boys High School in Mombasa on January 11, 2018. Coast leaders and chiefs have started an aggressive campaign to ensure parents take their children to school. PHOTO | WACHIRA MWANGI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The six Coast counties are using community radio stations and administrators to urge parents to take their children to school.

  • Coast has been hit by low enrolment of students prompting acting Education CS Fred Matiang’i to pitch camp in Mombasa.

  • Operesheni rudisha watoto shule is meant to address low enrolment of Form Ones.

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.

Reporting by Winnie Atieno, Mohamed Ahmed, Fadhili Fredrick and Stephen Oduor