By Kese Werugha
Kilifi County Women Leadership Forum has raised concern over the escalating number of teenage pregnancies forcing girls to drop out of school in the region.
They have asked parents to monitor movement of their children especially girls during the school holidays.
Addressing the participants, Kilifi North Sub-county Administrator Mwenda Karisa noted that many parents are to blame for not taking good care of their daughters.
Mwenda cautioned parents against marrying off underage girls during the school holidays because of lust for money paid as dowry, as the vice deprives them of their bright future.
She further said: “Child marriage is associated with lower levels of schooling for girls in all the seven sub-counties in this county which is a barrier to international development goals.”
The sub-county administrator also said that education was now free and a must, hence those parents found not taking their their children to school would be arrested and prosecuted.
