The transition to secondary schools is being hampered by failure by some parents to provide personal belongings to their children, Lugari Deputy County Commissioner (DCC) William Yanaremo has said.
He observed that since school heads insist that students are only admitted with full school uniform, some children have not yet reported to school.
The DCC said this had impended the efforts of achieving 100 per cent transition rate to high schools and urged the parents to do their part of providing the clothing.
He was speaking during the monthly County Service Delivery Coordination meeting at the County Planning Unit hall on Thursday.
Deputy County Commissioners present said illegal levies charged by the school managers were also an impediment to the realization of universal basic education.
They lamented that the school heads keep on sending learners away to collect the levies thereby making them miss classes.
The County Commissioner (CC) Abdirisack Jaldesa however directed them to ensure all the 2018 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) graduates transit to the next level.
“As a government we have resolved that all the KCPE graduates transit to the next level even if it means joining local polytechnics and there is no compromise,” asserted the CC.
The County Director of Education Dickson Akong’a disclosed that the transition rate now stands at 84 per cent with Mumias West Sub-County recording the highest at 103 per cent while Lugari registering the lowest of 71 per cent.
He warned the school heads against taking advantage of the untimely disbursement of the free education subsidy to impose levies and promised to act on the principals and head teachers who were imposing illegal levies on parents.
Mr. Akong’a stated that from the year 2014 to 2018 2970 schools girls were impregnated in the county.
The most affected are girls who are day scholars; in 2016 for instance, six form four girls at Shihome Secondary school in Malava Sub County were impregnated.
He said the teenage pregnancies are attributable to the bodaboda operators who take advantage of the girls as well as high poverty levels in the community.
By Sammy Mwibanda
