Ministry to monitor 374 Scholarship beneficiaries who left school
The Ministry of Education (MoE) has committed to ensuring that 374 Scholarship beneficiaries who left school are re-enrolled as classes commence this week.
Speaking in the Kakuma and Kalobeyei refugee camps in Turkana County after completing a one-week mop-up exercise, County Director of Education for Turkana County, Dr. Henry Lubanga, confirmed that many learners have dropped out of school in the refugee camps.
Lubanga stated that the government will exert every effort in locating the learners and bringing them back to school as the second term learning program begins.
The scholarship beneficiaries are out of school due to various issues, including teenage pregnancies, early marriages, truancy, and resettlement in other countries.
The education officials noted that learners in the camp face numerous challenges but emphasized that these issues cannot justify allowing the learners to quit school.
National Coordinator of the Kenya Primary Education Equity in Learning Program (KPEEL), Martha Ekirapa, confirmed that of the 374 Elimu scholars, 330 are from the Equity Group Foundation, while 44 are from the Jomo Kenyatta Foundation, who act as the scholarship implementing partners.
She rejected some of the challenges leading to educational disruptions for the students as mere excuses that lack backing from the ministry’s regulations and guidelines.
The coordinator highlighted several measures the Ministry of Education has implemented to address some of the challenges, including allowing pregnant learners to remain in school until delivery and enabling them to resume studies shortly thereafter, according to the ministry’s Education Learner’s Re-entry Policy.
