How poverty, ignorant parents abet early pregancies in Mt Elgon

By DANIEL PSIRMOI

Mt Elgon , Kenya: News that more than 18 girls of Chepkurkur Primary School in Mt Elgon constituency were pregnant first broken by The Standard shocked the whole country.

However, a fact-finding mission by The Standard and KTN Crew on Tuesday in the affected school and the nearby schools in the area established that problems of teenage pregnancy among minors in the region are a commonplace.

Though top education officials in the two districts of Cheptais and Mt Elgon could not confirm, most cases never reach them. Independent investigations by The Standard have established that at least 50 girls drop out of school each term in the region.

Credible sources confided to The Standard that eight girls in Kebee Primary School, that is about five kilometres from Chepkurkur have dropped-out of school for being pregnant and four at Korng’otuny another nearby school, just from the start of this year.

According to a teacher at Kapkoto ACK Primary School, who requested anonymity, two pupils (one in Standard Eight and one in Standard Seven) have dropped out after getting pregnant.

One is now married to a pupil in Standard Eight in the same school. Others are four from Chongeywo Primary School, five at Kipsis Girls and eight at Chebkube S A Secondary.

“We have a big problem; we cannot tell the exact number of girls who drop out of school. The parents are uncooperative, as they resort to solving the issues ‘locally’. They only to turn to us once local arrangements made with offenders go sour,” said Pius Ng’oma, Mt Elgon District Education Officer.

Cheptais District Education Officer Jacob Wanyama echoed the same sentiments as he observed that the problem needs to be tackled from all angles and much input is needed from parents.

2006-2008 war

Chepkurkur Primary School that has hit the headlines for wrong reasons stands on a 10-acre piece of land, in the controversial Chepyuk Phase Three scheme in Cheptais District, that was the epicenter of the Sabaot Land Defence Force (SLDF ) instigated menace that rocked the region.

It is about three kilometers from the Kipsigon Market that bore the brunt of the 2006-2008 war after it was razed down.

The school was closed down with six others in the area during the period and was also burnt down. Currently, it has a population of 750 pupils with seven teachers.

It has a single block that has four classrooms that house the upper primary classes and was built by Mt Elgon CDF. The rest of the lower classes are conducted outside, under trees.

During this rainy season, learning among the lower classes at the institution is a nightmare. They are forced to cut lessons short as pupils scamper for shelter in the four roomed classrooms, sometimes inconveniencing the other pupils. Sometimes the school is forced to close for the day because the classes cannot shelter all the pupils.

Classrooms are not only the major problem, there are also no enough desks, forcing some boys and girls to sit on the floor or on rocks.

The head teacher said the school desperately needs more classrooms and desks , and appealed to well wishers to help. “We also have a terrible teacher deficit, seven teachers dealing with over 700 pupils. To make matters worse we have only one female teacher, the school deputy teacher. She is the one who speaks to over 300 girls,” said Ndiema, who added there are three untrained teachers in the school who recently cleared Form Four.

The PTA Chairman Masudi Chemasuet said besides assisting in new structures and staffing, the Government should help members of the Chebyuk Phase 3 scheme put up decent houses like other IDPs.