Mwea Member of Parliament Mary Maingi has decried that drug abuse and child labour contributed to the poor performance of local schools in national examinations.
She told an education summit with all stakeholders to deliberate on the falling education standards in the constituency that it was time the two issues were addressed to restore the glory Mwea enjoyed previously in terms of performance when local secondary schools excelled.
She decried that schools in both Mwea East and Mwea West subcounties posted a mean score of less than 4 in last year’s (2023) Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE), calling the trend a major concern.
She has associated the dismal performance with rampant cases of child labour and substance abuse, as most of the learners were preoccupied with such habits at the expense of their education.
“It’s my humble call to our rice farmers not to give any casual labour to anyone who is under 18 years old. Let’s try our best to make our children get an education; let them be in schools,” Maingi said.
She announced that the Education Summit would implement all resolutions agreed upon and follow up on recommendations to deal firmly with parents and employers who engage students as workers in rice paddies when they were supposed to be in school.
Maingi expressed fears that drugs like bhang were even being sold in primary schools and called on parents to be watchful of their children in everything they do.
“Through the cooperation of the area DCCs, we have been able to minimise the use of drugs in Mwea constituency, but it is still a challenge to completely wipe out the vice,” she said.
On his part, Mwea East DCC Fred Ayieko said that the role of security teams is to make sure there is a good working environment for everyone, and they have intensified operations to deal firmly with those selling drugs and illicit brew in the region and also arrest parents whose children are not going to school.
By David Wandeto
