Religious groups ask State to enact school re-entry policies for pregnant girls
Two teenage mothers with their babies. They were Grade Seven pupils at a school Uasin Gishu County in 2021. Religious groups now want the government to fully implement school re-entry policies for pregnant girls and adolescent mothers.
What you need to know:
- Religious-based organisations want the government to implement for pregnant girls and adolescent mothers.
- A study shows nearly 4,000 adolescent girls in Kenya did not return to school when they reopened in January 2021.
Religious-based organisations have asked the government to fully implement for pregnant girls and adolescent mothers.
Speaking in a Nairobi hotel on Friday, Bakhita Partnership for Education presented their findings of a study that assessed the state’s responses to Covid-19 and their implications to girls’ education.
The report lauded the Ministry of Education’s swift interventions at the onset of the pandemic to curb the spread of Covid-19 virus but noted that insufficient attention has been paid to gender dynamics.
Early marriages
“Since the government was insufficiently aware of the gendered gaps during its interventions in school re-enrolment after the lockdown, it has failed to mitigate the impact of school closures on girls who got pregnant or were exposed to early marriages,’’ Charles Chilufya, Director of Jesuit Justice and Ecology Network Africa stated during the event.
The study, which was conducted between July and October this year, found that nearly 4,000 adolescent girls living in urban settlements and rural counties in Kenya did not return to school when schools reopened in January 2021.
Further, the report attributed the low re-enrolment amongst adolescent girls to teenage pregnancies that were exacerbated during the lockdown.
Sex for money
“Girls had to engage in sexual activity where they exchanged sex for money and other favours. Those who got pregnant said their pregnancies were not planned and expressed apprehension about the future of their education. Many of them felt “ashamed” and “uncomfortable” around their peers, while most were likely to discontinue their studies,’’ part of the report reads.
Despite recent government measures to re-admit pregnant school-going girls back to school, the religious-organisation insists that more gender-sensitive approaches need to be implemented to see its full realisation.
Some of the recommendations fronted by the foundation include removal of school readmission fees and provision of additional funding that would support the full implementation of the Schools Re-entry Policy and the National Guidelines for School Re-entry.
Full re-admission
“These additional resources should go towards providing free and accessible childcare and accommodation services to support teen mothers' stay in school, continuous sensitization of parents and community members on the policy and creating a stigma-free safe environment in school,’’ Mr Chilufya added.
Dagoretti North Constituency Member of Parliament for Beatrice Elachi, who was also in attendance, promised to engage cabinet secretaries for education and gender to ensure full re-admission of adolescent mothers and pregnant girls.
“I will also be tabling a motion in Parliament that takes into account post-Covid initiatives such as feeding programs that will ensure vulnerable girls can go back to school,’’ Ms Elachi said.
