Lifeline for Nandi mums who quit school in teenage
Nandi MCA Cynthia Muge. She has offered scholarships to mothers who had dropped out of school because of early marriage or teenage pregnancy.
What you need to know:
- Woman Representative Cynthia Muge offered scholarships to 60 mothers to revive their education dreams by joining technical institutions.
- She targeted those aged 30–45 who had dropped out of primary and secondary schools because of early marriage or teenage pregnancy.
Some of the women in Nandi County who dropped out of school have been offered scholarships to pursue technical training for one year.
Woman Representative Cynthia Muge has offered scholarships to 60 mothers to revive their education dreams by joining technical institutions. She targeted those aged 30–45 who had dropped out of primary and secondary schools because of early marriage and teenage pregnancy.
She noted that most of the adult women had sought her support to facilitate their education to develop skills that would boost their chances of getting a livelihood for financial independence.They have enrolled for hotel and catering, food nutrition, plumbing, automotive engineering, tailoring, food and beverage, masonry and painting, and driving, among other courses.
“We have made arrangements with technical institutions such as Kaiboi, Aldai, Tindiret, Sigoria, Lessos, and Emsos vocational training institutes to admit the adult students. Sh12.2 million has been allocated towards empowering the women to train in different areas of interests,” Ms Muge said.
She said they are prioritising women, the youth and persons living with disabilities to benefit from the National Government Affirmative Action Fund education kitty.
Some 207 students have been given scholarships worth Sh1.9 million from the kitty. Fifty women's groups, 10 youth groups and three PWD groups have also benefitted from a programme targeting 3,000 women from the six sub-counties in Nand.
Cases rampant
Terry Maiyo, the county affirmative action office manager, said the county had some of the highest cases of female school dropouts, but once such women are skilled, they would be able to earn a living and take care of their children.
She added that at the height of the Covid-19 crisis, over 10,000 female students dropped out of school because of pregnancies, which occurred when schools were closed for about one year.
She noted that although some of the female students gave birth and went back to school, a high percentage is still at home taking care of young children and would also be given a chance to explore opportunities that they wanted.
Ms Maiyo urged parents not to condemn such girls, adding many of them are victims. She urged the Nandi community to give equal opportunities to both girls and boys to pursue education and appealed to the youth to keep off drugs and gender based violence.
