Education stakeholders in Jomvu Sub-County are rushing against time to tame absenteeism in secondary schools which is affecting performance.
The Sub-County Director of Education Maimuna Omar raised the alarm during the issuance of scholarships by area MP Badi Twalib on the surge in absenteeism after they conducted an assessment in three secondary schools.
“We have been doing assessments and so far, we have covered Jomvu Kajembe and Miritini Secondary schools. What astounded us is all the classes from Form One to Four, there are over 100 students who are not in school as we speak,” said Omar.
She appealed to parents to urge their children to attend school, as the MP through CDF has invested in school infrastructure.
“Most of our primary school children perform well. The problem lies in secondary schools. There are incidents of students registering then disappear the whole year. As a parent, why are you allowing your child to stay at home yet he is a candidate,” posed the Sub-County Director of Education, adding, that students must be in school to learn not to resurface on examination day because they will fail.
Jomvu legislator Badi Twalib was appalled by the revelations of the Sub-County Education Officer.
“In those schools, as people blame teachers, I want to absolve Head Teachers from the blame because they haven’t told children to stay at home, it’s the parents,” he said, adding, that the tendency of students disappearing after registration must end since it’s affecting mean scores of schools.
The MP noted that plans were underway to set a private examination where students who qwre not keen on their studies would sit for national examinations so as not to derail the performance of schools.
Twalib further stated that they would evaluate the performance of beneficiaries of bursaries from the CDF in day schools.
“There is no way we pay fees only for someone to show up during KCSE rehearsal yet there are other students in need of the bursaries. We will review the performance of all those we have issued bursaries. I won’t accept our schools means scores to be affected by absent students,” he said.
To ensure the retention of students in schools, the MP urged the Jomvu security apparatus to apprehend and charge parents whose children are at home to act as a deterrent.
The MP underscored the need for all stakeholders to collaborate in creating a conducive environment for students and mould them to produce quality grades.
He accused some parents of being the enemies of their children giving an example of a parent who transferred her daughter from a national school because of trivialities.
The MP was speaking in Mikindani Ward where he issued Sh3million full scholarships to 75 students, 23 of them are in form one, and the rest are continuing students in Form Four. He promised to extend the scholarships to benefit more students.
“I want to urge parents to know that this is a collective responsibility. I want quality results that will transform lives in our locality,” he said.
By Sadik Hassan
