Bungoma Deputy Governor Jenipher Mbatiany has expressed concern after a Ministry of Education (MoE) report indicated that 15,680 learners in the county have dropped out of school between 2022 and 2023.
Speaking at Kanduyi DEB Primary school during the commemoration of the International Day Against Child Labour on Saturday, she attributed the drop outs to the rising cases of children being trafficked to Uganda to work as hawkers, househelps, farmhands and cattle herders.
“As a county we are very annoyed with the report we received from the Ministry indicating that 15,680 learners dropped out of school. Parents, please be careful with your children. Don’t let them drop out of school because they are the future generation,” she said.
She said that other factors worsening the matter are the proximity of Bungoma to the porous Malaba border and the high poverty index in the county, adding that it has put strategies in place to curb dropouts.
One of the interventions the county has begun is the ‘Fuga Kuku Initiative’ in wards as a way of ensuring parents raise funds to help pay school fees with ease.
“Governor Lusaka and I will move around all the 45 wards to ask locals to start rearing chicken as a way of sourcing resources that can be used to pay for school fees to avoid these dropouts,” she said.
She noted that they have established the Chwele Chicken Slaughterhouse to offer ready market to those who will rear chicken.
In addition, Mbatiany added that soon the county government will roll out loan facilities to help traders to get funds to boost their businesses.
She added that the county has distributed free seeds and fertilizers to vulnerable farmers to ensure food security in the county and will distribute dairy cows to women groups soon.
Grace Banya, International Labour Organization (ILO) Head of Regional Project said that to address the school dropouts in the county, the organization was working with different organizations to create a child protection policy which is nearing completion.
“I appreciate that we have worked closely in Bungoma to draft the child protection policy that is near completion. Let us continue supporting and fighting for child protection,” she said.
She noted that ILO was also working with immigration and reinforcement officers at the border to ensure that child trafficking is brought down to zero.
To address inadequate food in schools, she said that ILO had partnered with the World Food Programme (WFP) to distribute food to schools and establish school gardens.
By Our Reporter
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