Education stakeholders want the government to ensure all school going girls resume their studies when the school calendar restarts amid concerns that many could drop out of school due to early pregnancies.
Defenders Coalition Executive Director Kamau Ngugi says the coronavirus pandemic has presented a unique challenge for girls especially from predominantly pastoralist communities. Ngugi saying his organisation is ready to work with government agencies to ensure all girls are back in school including those whose lives could have been disrupted by retrogressive cultural practices.
Ngugi noted that many cases of gender-based violence have gone unreported, a state of affairs that he says will manifest once schools re-open.
Speaking at Logologo in Marsabit County at the close of a training for young girls, Ngugi said his organisation has been partnering with grassroots organisations to provide essential items for vulnerable girls in an effort to cushion them from social vices that could adversely affect their lives.
According to Mutuma Kinoti, the Laisamis Childrens’ officer, cases of female Genital mutilation(FGM) remains unacceptably high in northern Kenyan counties, an obtaining situation that has resulted in high dropout rates.
