Crisis meeting planned to address alarming teen pregnancies in Nandi

A crisis meeting has been planned in Nandi to bring together education stakeholders and provincial administrators to brainstorm on the thorny issue of teen pregnancies in the county that has seen many schoolgirls drop out of school.

It follows an August status report that showed several teenage girls reported back to school with pregnancies after the short break.

The county security team, education stakeholders and political leaders are worried that the affected adolescents were on the verge of dropping out of school once they become mothers, which could ruin their education and their future.

According to the county education report, schoolgirls aged between 15 and 18 were found to be pregnant in August, when schools reopened after a short holiday.

Nandi County Commissioner Herman Shambi said the alarming new cases involve learners from various secondary and primary schools. He said the situation demands immediate action from local administrators and education stakeholders and support from parents and the church.

“It is unfortunate that the young girls were sexually abused by some members of the community, and the perpetrators are going scot-free This shows that parents have failed to deliver on their parental responsibility because they don't have time with the young ones,” he said.

Poverty and other factors

Poverty is partly to blame, he said, as some minors are taken advantage of sexually in exchange for food, sweets and other enticements by men.

Mr Shambi directed chiefs, their assistants and school heads to report cases of girls who had dropped out of school due to teenage pregnancies and promised action against those responsible.

“The breakdown of families has contributed to this situation. We have discovered that some parents are lost in alcohol and have totally neglected their children, [leaving them] to survive on their own,” he said, urging stakeholders to join hands to address the situation.

During the Covid-19 spell that resulted in the closing of schools for about a year, Nandi recorded an upsurge in teenage pregnancies.

7,500 girls

Between 2020 and 2021, over 7,500 girls became pregnant and at least 50 percent of the reported cases terminated, according to the county health report.

The county government, the women leaders caucus, religious leaders and Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevölkerung (DSW) have stepped in to sensitise the local community on the issue, with reports that 13.8 percent of women aged 14 to 24 had engaged in a sexual experience.

Deputy Governor Yulitah Cheruiyot acknowledged that female adolescents need help, stating that the County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP) provides for an annual budget of Sh10 million to be rolled out for family planning measures.

Taboo and parenting

"It is important that we involve the community in the fight against sexual abuse and sensitise parents on legal procedures that can be taken against suspects,” she said. 

“Our community treats sexual issues as a taboo and do not involve children in such talks, hence it’s a contributing factor to teenage pregnancies."

Dr Cheruiyot urged parents of girls who had given birth to allow them to resume their studies, noting that they still have a chance to pursue their dreams without being condemned by society.

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