Education has been identified as the sole avenue the state can take to help address societal challenges experienced by children and provide them with space to thrive.
This was reiterated by Molo sub-county Deputy County Commissioner (DCC), Ngura Mwamachi, during this year’s Day of the African Child celebrations with the theme ‘Education for all children in Africa: The time is now’.
Mwamachi said children face a myriad of challenges like defilement, child labour, stigma for young teenage mothers, and early child marriages, among others, adding that there is a need for collective responsibility to address such issues.
“For sobriety to reign in society on issues affecting children, we (leaders and community members) need to take up responsibility and point out the social ills so that the culprits violating children’s rights are brought to book,” said Mwamachi.
The administrator said many factors, such as poverty, high levels of illiteracy, and culture, fuel the violation of children’s rights and added that it is only through education that society will bring an end to the vicious cycle of child abuse.
He remarked that it was unfortunate that many adults fail to report such vices that hinder the progress of their children in school and added that this will not be tolerated. Instead, the community should endeavour to embrace education as a powerful positive tool to change society for the better tomorrow.
His sentiments were echoed by the Sub-County Children’s Officer, Henry Bigoro, who urged parents to invest in their child’s education so that they become role models to fellow upcoming children and therefore impact positive energy for a brighter future.
Bigoro observed that most children found to be in conflict with the law are those that are not in school and called for a need to embrace them and give them guidance on following the right path to see an end to such vices.
In addition, the Children’s officer pointed out the importance of sensitising the community about children’s rights and where to report when issues of concern arise.
The Sub-County Director of Education, Sylvester Musikoye, who was present during the function, affirmed that education is the only way to counter the identified problems.
“Education exposes a child to so many opportunities and helps nurture talents, which in turn will help the learner improve their standard of living,” noted Musikoye.
Cash transfer programmes, scholarships, and bursaries, among other foundations, are part of what the government and stakeholders are doing to ensure that no child is locked out of school, and thus parents should utilise these opportunities to ensure that their children are fully enlightened.
While acknowledging the difficulties experienced when addressing the rights of the children, the spouse to Molo legislator Kuria Kimani, Winnie Mumbi, lauded the effort by the government and other stakeholders in their effort to ensure children remain in school and challenged the community to be at the forefront to help in providing lasting solutions to this problem.
She highlighted the efforts of the Kuria Kimani Foundation, established by the MP, which has provided bursaries to over 1,300 secondary school students, including 100 students with special needs and more than 300 university students.
“The MP is committed to supporting education, improving school facilities, and ensuring a better learning environment,” Mumbi said.
The celebrations were held in Elburgon, an area that has continued to report high cases of violations of children’s rights within the sub-county.
The Day of the African Child is marked every year on the 16th of June since 1991 to commemorate the South African massacre of children during the Soweto uprising back in 1976.
By Emily Kadzo and Ronald Kipkorir
