Njoro MP encourages teenage mothers o return back to school

Njoro Member of Parliament Charity Kathambi has urged parents to encourage teenage mothers to resume learning in July.

This she said will help implement the Government`s 100 percent transition to secondary school program.

The lawmaker said the Njoro Constituency Development Committee (CDC) has given priority to the mothers in the next tranche of disbursement of bursary funds.

She was speaking in Njoro after issuing bursary cheques worth Ksh 45 Million to over 1,000 students in the constituency who are learning at various schools and tertiary institutions across the country.

Kathambi urged parents to exercise parental responsibility to their children and assist them access counseling services from appropriate authorities as a way of averting indiscipline and wrong peer influence among their teenage children.

The legislator appealed to the church in conjunction with communities in the five wards to initiate and sustain programs aimed at providing psycho-social support to needy teenage mothers as they prepare to enroll into secondary schools and various vocational training programs starting July.

Her sentiments come weeks after Education Cabinet Secretary Prof. George Magoha called out Nakuru County for being among Counties leading in cases of teenage pregnancies over the last one year.

Nakuru was ranked third alongside Nairobi, Kakamega and West Pokot Counties. The CS said 150,000 cases of teenage pregnancies had been reported in the year 2020 during the 10 months school break due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prof. Magoha attributed the cases to exposure of minors to adult content and parental negligence.

The MP asked parents and other members of the society not to discriminate teenage mothers and instead help them build their self-confidence as they embark on pursuing their academic goals.